PACE™: Rapid and Automated Artifact Identification and Number of Contributor Prediction

This webinar focused on the use of PACE™, a method developed by Syracuse University, to perform artifact management and probabilistically predict the number of contributors (NOC) in forensic DNA samples. This is performed using a combination of biological modeling and machine learning, permitting high accuracy NOC calls (greater than 90%) of complex mixtures. It does so rapidly (seconds to minutes) without the need for high performance computing resources. We discussed the design and development of the PACE system, how to interpret the output, and provided recommendations on how to implement the system in a forensic laboratory. This included a full demonstration of the software and how to navigate the interface and read reports. Finally, we discussed a current project funded by the NIJ that seeks to develop PACE for sequencing-based analyses.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on July 28, 2020.