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NIJ 2024 Research Conference

2024 National Research Conference - Advancing Justice Through Science

Thank You and Follow-Ups

A huge thank you to everyone who attended the conference or watched the live-streamed events. We are both energized and exhausted and hope you found the panels and plenaries as exciting and informative as we did.

A look back at the 2024 NIJ Research Conference

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne moderates the opening plenary "Advancing Justice Through Science: Tracing Allegheny County’s Journey"

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne moderates the opening plenary "Advancing Justice Through Science: Tracing Allegheny County’s Journey"
 

Professor Rhema Vaithianathan from the Auckland University of Technology participates in the opening plenary "Advancing Justice Through Science: Tracing Allegheny County’s Journey"

Professor Rhema Vaithianathan from the Auckland University of Technology participates in the opening plenary "Advancing Justice Through Science: Tracing Allegheny County’s Journey"
 

A conference attendee participants in Q&A after a plenary

A conference attendee participants in Q&A after a plenary
 

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne chats with poster presenters

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne chats with poster presenters
 

Heather McKiernan, NamUs Forensic Services Manager, and Brandon Elkins from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation participate in the plenary "Advancing Justice for the Missing and Unidentified Through Research"

Heather McKiernan, NamUs Forensic Services Manager, and Brandon Elkins from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation participate in the plenary "Advancing Justice for the Missing and Unidentified Through Research" 
 

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne chats with a poster presenter at the 2024 NIJ Research Conference

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne chats with a poster presenter at the 2024 NIJ Research Conference

Even our four-legged friends are interested in advancing justice through science!

Even our four-legged friends are interested in advancing justice through science! 

NIJ's Senior Science Advisor Angela Moore participates in the plenary "30 Years of the Violence Against Women Act: Endurance, Expansion, and the Next Era"

NIJ's Senior Science Advisor Angela Moore participates in the plenary "30 Years of the Violence Against Women Act: Endurance, Expansion, and the Next Era"
 

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees
 

A conference attendee participants in Q&A after a plenary

A conference attendee participants in Q&A after a plenary
 

Karma Cottman, CEO of Ujima: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community, participates in the plenary "30 Years of the Violence Against Women Act: Endurance, Expansion, and the Next Era"

Karma Cottman, CEO of Ujima: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community, participates in the plenary "30 Years of the Violence Against Women Act: Endurance, Expansion, and the Next Era"
 

NIJ's Lucas Zarwell moderates the plenary "Advancing Justice for the Missing and Unidentified Through Research"

NIJ's Lucas Zarwell moderates the plenary "Advancing Justice for the Missing and Unidentified Through Research"
 

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne makes remarks to conference attendees

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne makes remarks to conference attendees
 

Conference attendees stop by the NIJ booth to learn more about key resources

Conference attendees stop by the NIJ booth to learn more about key resources
 

"(from left to right): NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne, NamUs Forensic Services Manager Heather McKiernan, NIJ Director of the Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences Lucas Zarwell, TBI Special Agent Brandon Elkins, Bode Technology Vice President of Forensic Operations Erin McBride, and Director of the Forensic Anthropology Center Dawnie Steadman "

(from left to right): NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne, NamUs Forensic Services Manager Heather McKiernan, NIJ Director of the Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences Lucas Zarwell, TBI Special Agent Brandon Elkins, Bode Technology Vice President of Forensic Operations Erin McBride, and Director of the Forensic Anthropology Center Dawnie Steadman
 

Participants in the plenary "30 Years of the Violence Against Women Act: Endurance, Expansion, and the Next Era," include NIJ Executive Science Advisory Janine Zweig, NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne, NIJ Senior Science Advisory Angela Moore, Director of the Office on Violence Against Women Rosie Hidalgo, Director of the Office for Victims of Crime Kris Rose, and Karma Cottman, CEO of Ujima: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community

Participants in the plenary "30 Years of the Violence Against Women Act: Endurance, Expansion, and the Next Era," include NIJ Executive Science Advisory Janine Zweig, NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne, NIJ Senior Science Advisory Angela Moore, Director of the Office on Violence Against Women Rosie Hidalgo, Director of the Office for Victims of Crime Kris Rose, and Karma Cottman, CEO of Ujima: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community

A conference attendee participants in Q&A after a panel

A conference attendee participants in Q&A after a panel
 

Erin McBride, Bode Technology's Vice President of Forensic Operations, chats to a conference attendee

Erin McBride, Bode Technology's Vice President of Forensic Operations, chats to a conference attendee
 

A conference attendee participants in Q&A after a plenary

A conference attendee participants in Q&A after a plenary
 

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne and Director of the Office for Victims of Crime Kris Rose

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne and Director of the Office for Victims of Crime Kris Rose
 

A panel at the NIJ research conference

A panel at the NIJ rsearch conference
 

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees
 

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne and Judge Eliot Howsie participate in the plenary "Advancing Justice Through Science: Tracing Allegheny County’s Journey"

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne and Judge Eliot Howsie participate in the plenary "Advancing Justice Through Science: Tracing Allegheny County’s Journey"
 

Director of the Center for Data Analytics Eona Harrison speaks at the panel "Building and Implementing a Strong Dissemination Plan"

Director of the Center for Data Analytics Eona Harrison speaks at the panel "Building and Implementing a Strong Dissemination Plan"
 

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees

A poster presenter at the NIJ Research Conference

A poster presenter at the NIJ Research Conference

Attendees listen to a panel at the NIJ Research Conference
NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees

NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne takes selfies with conference attendees

Building on the success of our 2023 conference in Arlington, Virginia, the theme of our 2024 Research Conference was advancing justice through science. The 2024 conference took place September 16-18, 2024, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Our goal was to bring researchers, practitioners, and policymakers together to discuss the latest research evidence and how it can be implemented to promote safety, equity, and justice for all.

We invited researchers, grantees, practitioners, policymakers, graduate students, advocates, the general public — anyone interested in mobilizing NIJ’s resources. This convening also offered guidance on equitable and community-engaged research design. It is the collaborative partnerships between us all that yield the strongest research outcomes and results.

Learn more about how the conference addressed issues in the fields of: 

NIJ is dedicated to advancing knowledge and tools to help law enforcement agencies deliver services more effectively and efficiently. 

Law enforcement attendees at the National Research Conference learned about critical issues and challenges in policing, eradicating police crime and misconduct, policing in schools, celebrating the anniversary of NIJ’s LEADS Scholars program, and emerging public safety strategies. 

NIJ’s forensic science mission is to strengthen the quality and practice of forensics through research and development, testing and evaluation, technology, and information exchange. 

The upcoming National Research Conference convened leading minds from the forensics community, and the greater criminal justice field, which can reinforce collaboration between government, academic, and industry partners. Forensics practitioners got up to speed on how research and technology can improve public crime lab efficiency and accuracy, support the processing of ballistic evidence, inform child abuse investigations, detect Novel Psychoactive Substances, and advance justice for the missing and unidentified through research and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) program. 

NIJ supports research in and evaluations of many specific types of crime prevention strategies — from gun crime and child abuse to identity theft and human trafficking.

At the National Research Conference, attendees learned about evidence from the evaluation of Project Safe Neighborhoods, tools for assessing community perceptions of public safety, effective strategies for community violence interventions, and efforts to stem gun violence. 

NIJ is dedicated to improving knowledge and understanding of crime and justice issues through science. We provide objective and independent knowledge and tools to inform the decision-making of the criminal and juvenile justice communities to reduce crime and advance justice, particularly at the state and local levels.

Attending NIJ’s National Research Conference allowed those interested in innovations in data sources and analytic strategies to improve the juvenile justice system, inform our understanding and reporting of missing person data, build and implement a strong dissemination plan, employ best practices and practical applications for cost analyses, and develop and manage effective research collaborations. 

NIJ supports research to advance the field of victims' services, including studies to reduce victimization, evaluate service provision, measure the impact of crime on individuals, their loved ones, and their communities, and improve the criminal justice system response for victims of crime. 

The National Research Conference enabled those interested in this field to come together and collaborate across other justice areas to learn about survivor-informed research, dynamic survivor engagement in human trafficking research, tools to improve victim services, how research has informed policy changes to prevent, protect, and service victims of gender-based violence, and research highlights from thirty years of the Violence Against Women Act.

Date Created: January 8, 2024