The Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation

The Arcadia University Master of Science in Forensic Science Program will be hosting an alumni event at this year’s annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Sponsored by NMS Labs and Agilent Technologies, the event will take place just a short walk away from the conference at Meehan’s Pub in downtown Atlanta from 9:00-11:30 PM the night of Wednesday February 22nd. If any of our alumni will be attending the conference, or will be in the area, we’d love to see you there! Please RSVP by filling out our Contact Form so we can plan accordingly.

Don’t miss Dr. Rob Middleberg, Vice President, Quenality Assurance Lab Director and Forensic Toxicologist for NMS Labs, on Philadelphia’s Fox 29 news tonight at
5:00 PM, 6:00 PM, and 10:00 PM and tomorrow in the Intelligencer Newspaper discussing Designer Drugs. Dr. Middleberg is a frequent speaker and teacher here at the Center and the Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation, participating in the Forensics Mentors Institute, our Master of Science in Forensic Science Program, and our recent seminar on “Melendez-Diaz, Bullcoming and Williams: Scientific Evidence and the Right to Confrontation.”

Arcadia University, our partner in the Master of Science in Forensic Science Program, has recently added a new Outdoor Cafe Terrace, dedicated in honor of Dr Fredric Rieders, namesake of the Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation. The terrace was a gift from Dr. and Mrs. M. Fredric Rieders, the late Dr Rieders’ son and daughter-in-law, and two of our board members. Dr Fredric Rieders was a a professor at Arcadia University and was instrumental in creating the Master of Science in Forensic Science Program which is still taught at the Fredric Rieders Foundation today.

We are excited to announce that we are officially open for applications for the 2012 G. John DiGregorio Summer Science Program at the Forensics Mentors Institute. All high school students 16 and older are encouraged to apply, and we will hold interviews in April to select this year’s students.

To learn more about the program and apply, click here.

To download the program brochure, click here.

For any additional questions, visit our Contact Form.

We will be holding our second annual open house at the Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation in Willow Grove, PA from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon on Saturday, March 10th. Interested students, parents, teachers, and counselors are invited to attend. There will be a continental breakfast, presentations about the program by staff and faculty, and some interactive experiements in the lab. Please RSVP with your number of attendees no later than March 4th by using our contact form (above) or emailing katherine.sas@frfoundation.org. We look forward to seeing you there!

Thank you to everyone who registered and attended our latest seminar on “Melendez-Diaz, Bullcoming, and Williams: Scientific Challenges and the Right to Confrontation” at Arcadia University’s King of Prussia Campus last week. We had a great turn-out of 40+ people, including both scientists and legal professionals. It made for very dynamic and interesting presentations and discussion.

For those who were able to attend, we’ll be sending out a survey soon to gather your thoughts and suggestions. Any feedback is appreciated! For those who were unable to make it, drop us a line at our Contact Form to tell us that you’d be interested in attending a repeat of this seminar in the future or to suggest other times and venues for doing so. A lot of people have been asking about the possibility of broadcasting some of these courses via webinar, and while we weren’t able to make it happen for this course, we are certainly looking into this for the future.

Keep an eye out here and at our sister-site, the Center for Forensic Science Research & Education,  as we’ll be posting new and updated information about upcoming courses and seminars hosted by the the Center very soon. We hope to see you in 2012!

Next Friday, January 13th 2012, The Foundation will sponsor a half-day seminar prestended by The Center for Forensic Science Research & Education  on the controversial Court cases Melendez-Diaz vs. Massachusetts, Bullcoming vs. New Mexico, and Williams vs. Illinois, all cases concering the admissability of laboratory results in criminal cases. The seminar will run from 8:00 AM to noon, and will include speakers looking at these cases from the perspectives of the Constitution, the law (both prosecution and defense), and laboratory management. The seminar will conclude with a panel discussion and Q&A period led by Center Executive Director Dr Barry Logan. The course fee is only $50.00 and CLE credit is available to Pennsylvanians. There is only one week left to sign up, so follow the link below to read more about the seminar and register!

Melendez-Diaz, Bullcoming and Williams: Scientific Evidence and the Right to Confrontation

Click here to read an article in the UK’s online journal, The Independent, about the progress towards delcaring driving under the influence of cannabis, cocaine, and ecstasy criminal.  The article, titled “Scientists to urge making drug-driving a criminal offense,” features a quote from our Executive Director Dr Barry Logan stating that:

Follow the link above to read the article, or click here to check out The Independent.

The Foundation is proud to announce that this April it will sponsor The Center for Forensic Science Research and Education in partnership with the Center for Studies of Law in Action to host to 2012 Robert F. Borkenstein Course on DUID: The Effects of Drugs on Human Performance and Behavior. For the first time, the course will be held at the Chemical Heritage Foundation located in historic Old City Philadelphia.

The course is taught by internationally acknowledged experts who will discuss the pharmacology, toxicology and human performance effects of major drug classes associated with driving impairment. We use the successful Borkenstein Alcohol Course classroom format that provides excellent opportunities for student/faculty interaction during the breaks and after hours, and allows more individual attention to student questions and problems. Reflecting the need of the students in past classes, the range of topics has been expanded to include implementation of laws and strategies for investigating, identifying, and documenting drug impaired driving. The Center’s faculty have strong associations with the National Safety Council’s Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs, and other major national and international organizations in forensic science. Consistent with its past tradition, the Center for Studies of Law in Action responds to current needs and future trends. The curriculum is updated each year to include emerging issues and recent developments in the science of forensic alcohol toxicology.

Located in the heart of Old City, the Chemical Heritage Foundation is just blocks away from the Liberty Bell, the National Constitution Center, and Independence Hall, as well several great restuarants and hotels. Visit our Tuition, Travel and Lodging page to learn more about arranging your stay.

Don’t miss the chance to take this renowned course in a local setting. You can read more about it on our course page, or apply here. Registration is open and seats are limited, so apply now!

The Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation is proud to announce that three of our master of science in forensic science students have been accepted to present at the 2012 American Academy of Forensic Sciences Conference to be held this February in Atlanta, Georgia.

Martha Wood will be showing a poster on “Conversion of Codeine to Dihydrocodeine in Toxicological Analysis of Urine.”

Theresa Scott will present her research on “Chemical Characterization of Kratom and Associated Alkaloids.”

Emmi Slivka will present her research on “Characterization of Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and Mephedrone in “Legal High” Products by Chemical Color Tests, Microcrystalline Tests, with Confirmation by LC/MS.”

All three students began this initiated this research as graduate mentors during their time in the 2011 Forensics Mentors Institute Program here at the Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation. The entire second year class will be attending the meeting as participants, an annual event in the second year of the MSFS program. To learn more about last year’s trip, click here. We’d like to wish the presenters good luck, and to remind everyone to check back after the meeting for details about this year’s trip.

This afternoon at 3:00 PM eastern time our Executive Director Dr Barry Logan will be hosting a free live webinar called “The Expanding Reach of the Designer Drug Movement in 2011: Analytical and Interpretive Challenges for Forensic Toxicology and Chemistry.”  The webinar will be hosted by NMS Labs, of which Dr Logan is the National Director of Forensic Services.

From NMS Labs’ official release: “This presentation will consider the latest intelligence on what drugs are out in the U.S. grey market of products being sold as novelties, legal highs, “Bath Salts” and research chemicals, including an update on the latest trends in synthetic cannabinoid use and detection.

The proliferation of designer drugs in the last two years has made a remarkable change to the landscape of forensic toxicology and drug identification. The scope of compounds that require detection and measurement has grown from a few drugs that needed to be targeted in specific cases, to a wide range of esoteric compounds that arguably need to be included in general drug screens for forensic purposes. The growth continues as the industry that has built up around recreational drug manufacture adjusts in an attempt to stay one step ahead of the law.

The presentation will review the general chemical drug classes encountered in forensic toxicology and chemistry casework, including mephedrone, methylone and MDPV, recently scheduled by the US DEA, and related the cathinones, 2C compounds, tryptamines, and pyrovalerones. This will include a survey of the latest published research, and a review of resources for analytical testing and standards.”

To access the free webinar, go to NMS Labs website where there will be a link to the webinar in the center of the homepage.

To read more about Dr Barry Logan, click here.