Fingerprints: from catching criminals to catching cancer.
Collecting fingerprints are of course the classic crime scene investigation method. However, scientists have discovered the utility of the fingerprint can go way beyond crime scenes.
Chemistry Prof Simona Francese of Sheffield Hallam University comes to the Bright Ideas Gathering to discuss her work in exploiting the valuable information contained in any fingerprint. Most recently it was announced her work could result in a new way to screen for breast cancer that would be significantly less painful, invasive & expensive than traditional methods. She’ll discuss her work and its possibilities to impact the wider world.
Simona Francese’s bio
- Simona Francese is Professor of Forensic and Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), UK.
- She is the Lead of the Sheffield Multi-Modal Imaging Centre and Head of the Centre for Mass Spectrometry Imaging at SHU.
- Simona is an expert in the development of MALDI MS Imaging applications and has pioneered its development for the analysis of latent fingermarks and blood to profile offenders. More recently she has engaged in research at the interface between forensics and clinical diagnostics using blood and sweat in fingertip smears to detect cancer and other pathologies.
- She has generated a combined total of 97 publications and has been awarded a total of > £1.8m worth of research grants/contracts to date. Her research has been implemented in police casework in UK and Europe and has been partly funded by the Home Office, West Yorkshire Police and The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, UK.
- She engages in public dissemination at all levels including with the Media and two exemplary endeavours are the delivery of a TED talk in Vancouver in 2018 and at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 2023 on molecular fingerprinting.
https://www.shu.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/staff-profiles/simona-francese
Follow Simona:
X (Twitter)
Subscribe to Simona:
