Dr. Sarah Kerrigan, Director • IFRTI@shsu.edu
College of Criminal Justice • Sam Houston State University
IFRTI Partnerships Image: Teacher in a White Coat Overseeing a Female Student in a White Labcoat peering into a microscope

Partner with IFRTI

The Institute for Forensic Research, Training, and Innovation presents a unique opportunity for corporations, industrial partners and instrument manufacturers to integrate their technologies, effectively serving as a launch pad for technology transfer and innovation.

To discuss a potential partnership opportunity, contact us us by email or by phone.

Partnerships

Many operational laboratories are overwhelmed by casework and carry significant backlogs, making it difficult for scientists to accommodate research within the operational pressures of their organizations. However, these laboratories are often the first to identify technological needs, based on their own experience of where scientific improvements are needed and where knowledge gaps exist.

Universities can provide a strong research capability, and partnerships between forensic laboratories and academia are mutually beneficial. The purpose of the Institute for Forensic Research, Training, and Innovation is to promote the exchange of ideas and technology, whereby the laboratory becomes engaged in meaningful research and provides access to additional scientific resources, and the university is able to establish meaningful partnerships with industry. Ultimately this allows the university to demonstrate industrial relevance and the forensic laboratory to demonstrate broader scientific awareness. Academic partnerships can play a significant role spearheading innovation, conserving resources within operational labs, and enhancing the profession.

The conflict that arises between popularly-promoted science and reality makes it all the more important for operational laboratories to have strong ties with universities and capitalize on bilateral partnerships between academia and industry. Universities can play an important role in the quality management continuum of an operational laboratory by providing scientific education and valuable research. Access to resources necessary for rigorous scientific research is a major advantage of these partnerships. Linking operational laboratories with productive research programs provides a basis for a proactive and forward-looking profession.

Image: Blue background with an orange fingerprint. Foreground is the CARFS logo which consists of 5 white rings touching on the left side beneath a white and red circle.

Center for Advanced Research in Forensic Science

SHSU is also participates in the Center for Advanced Research in Forensic Science (CARFS), an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) of the National Science Foundation. The goals of the IUCRC Center for Advanced Research in Forensic Science (CARFS) are to bring together industrial partners, including the end-user community, with academic forensic science researchers with an aim to develop, implement and commercialize tools that benefit the national forensic science research enterprise.

Image: Background of a fence and foliage with a teal transparency and the STAFS logo on top. STAFS logo is a combination of a human skull and a DNA spiral.

Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science (STAFS)

The Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science (STAFS) Facility is a willed-body donor center that is recognized by the Texas Anatomical Board. We are dedicated to providing research opportunities for local, national and international investigators pursuing research that benefits forensic science, law enforcement, as well as the broader scientific community. Resources available for research include a secure 2-acre outdoor decomposition facility for field work and taphonomic research, a diverse skeletal collection, and a BSL-2 certified laboratory for biological sample preparation.

Image: Tilted orange box with letters SHSU inside on top of a background illustration of a DNA spiral.

Department of Forensic Science

The College of Criminal Justice's Department of Forensic Science is rich in history yet heavily geared toward the future. The Department of Forensic Science at SHSU was the first to offer an accredited Master of Science in Forensic Science degree program in Texas and continues to make strides in the field today. In 2015, Sam Houston State University developed the first multi-disciplinary PhD in Forensic Science in the United States. Programs utilize campus resources such as the latest scientific equipment found in crime labs and the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science (STAFS) Facility - one of a small number of willed body donor facilities in the nation.

Image: Front of red brick building with a large sundial and flower garden, overlaid with an orange transparency and the letters CJ.

George J. Beto Criminal Justice Center

The College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University (CJ Center) is one of the top programs in the country for the study of criminal justice and criminology, forensic science, and security studies and continues to set the national standard for these disciplines in higher education. Since 1963, the college has been at the forefront of academic research and professional leadership development.

As one of the most established, largest, and most prestigious criminal justice programs in the country, the College of Criminal Justice continues to set national standards in the field in both research and practice. The College offers a wide variety of degree programs and certificates in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Forensic Science, and Security Studies as well as special programs, organizations, and events.