A Cost-benefit Analysis on the Use of Nylon 4N6FLOQSwabs: Examples and Potential Benefits

Laboratories and their criminal justice systems face challenges in implementing new technologies, practices and policies even when there are noted benefits to operational performance. One impediment to embracing new technology can be higher costs, often relating to current budgets/resources. A proactive cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can help an agency better formulate its strategies and plans. More importantly, justify that a relatively small increase in its operational funding can have a large impact on the system (e.g., the agency, other agencies, victims and families, and taxpayers).
Join this expert webinar with Dr. Bruce Budowle as he discusses:

A CBA performed on the use of an alternate and more expensive collection device (i.e., Nylon 4N6FLOQSwabs) compared with less expensive cotton and rayon swabs
An overall outcome and practical laboratory benefits, including high-quality DNA yield certified as human DNA

Don’t miss this webinar and learn how a well-formulated cost-benefit analysis can help increase funding with the common goal of providing the best services to support the criminal justice system and society.

About the speaker

Bruce Budowle, Visiting Professor in the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Helsinki, Finland

Adjunct Professor in the Forensic Science Institute at Radford University, Radford, VA, USA

Dr. Bruce Budowle received a Ph.D. in Genetics in 1979 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. From 1979-1982, Dr. Budowle was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Working under a National Cancer Institute fellowship, he carried out research predominately on genetic risk factors for diseases such as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, melanoma, and acute lymphocytic leukemia. From 1983-2009, Dr. Budowle worked at the FBI's Laboratory Division to research, develop, and validate methods for forensic biological analyses. Dr. Budowle recently retired as Director of the Center for Human Identification and Regents Professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Texas, where his efforts focused on the areas of human forensic identification, microbial forensics, and emerging infectious disease with substantial emphasis in genomics and next generation sequencing. As a Commissioner of the Texas Forensic Science Commission and a member of the Texas Governor's Sexual Assault Survivor's Task Force, he continues to research and work in the areas of forensic genomics and contributes to supporting humanitarian efforts via human identification. He currently is a visiting professor in the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Helsinki and an adjunct professor in the Forensic Science Institute at Radford University.