Dr Thomas J. Parsons
International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP)
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Large scale victim identification projects can vary greatly in nature, from mass graves due to genocide or “ethnic cleansing,” to terrorist acts, natural disasters, or transportation incidents.  Each incident will have its own unique challenges, but all also share particular key features that are important for responders and identification teams to understand and prepare for.   This presentation will discuss some of these hallmarks.  It will also focus on the strong utility of high throughput DNA testing for victim identification, emphasizing the importance of integrating DNA evidence with other forms of identification and forensic lines of investigation.  Informatic capabilities, advance planning, and operational flexibility are critical for success.   Examples illustrating state of the art capabilities and particular challenges will be drawn from experiences of the International Commission on Missing Persons in identification of individuals from mass graves in the former Yugoslavia.  The ICMP approach integrates multiple branches of forensic science, and is anchored by mass scale DNA typing of skeletal remains and kinship comparison to a vast database of family references.

In early 2006, Thomas J. Parsons joined the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina as Director of Forensic Sciences.  At the ICMP he supervises ~100 forensic science staff in a multidisciplinary approach to identification of missing individuals involving forensic archaeology, anthropology, pathology, and high throughput DNA analysis. These processes are integrated in a “DNA-led” approach to mass identification, involving large scale comparison of profiles from families of the missing to profiles recovered from skeletal remains in a high-throughput DNA typing laboratory.  The ICMP’s primary focus is on mass graves from the former Yugoslavia, but has also worked in victim identification from the 2004 Asian tsunami, hurricane Katrina, and aircraft incidents. As of July 2007, over 12,000 individuals have been identified by the ICMP.

Prior to joining the ICMP, Thomas J. Parsons worked at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) since August of 1994, where he held the position of AFDIL Chief Scientist since 2000.  His principal role was directing the AFDIL Research Section in projects focusing on projects such as mtDNA genome databasing, population genetics and statistical interpretation, ancient DNA extraction methods and LCN STR analysis from bone.  At AFDIL he was part of the team that finalized the identification of Tsar Nicholas II, and for two years after the 9/11 attacks he served on a National Institute of Justice advisory panel for the World Trade Center DNA identification efforts. His undergraduate degree was in Physics from the University of Chicago, and he received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington in 1989.  As a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution, he focused on molecular evolution and phylogenetics, as well as mtDNA biogeography and avian speciation.