ABFO President Robert Barsley's Message

 

I am honored to serve as your President for this year.   As I mentioned during the meeting in Chicago, I am forever indebted to those forensic odontologists who preceded me in this office as well as to all who have mentored me during my nearly 35 year journey in the field of forensic odontology.   I would hope that such cooperation continues to blossom within our Board and within forensic odontology at large.  

I am sorry that I did have more time to visit with each of you during the week in Chicago .   Hopefully in future years I will be able to take more time to visit with my friends – this being the only week that many of us get to see each other.  

I join all of the members of the ABFO in welcoming our newest Diplomats: Dr. Denise Murmann of Illinois , Dr. Ned Turner of Tennessee , Dr. Chuck Berner of Ohio , and Dr. Raymond Johansen of California .    

I echo the sadness and sorrow of all of our members in the recent passing of Dr. Haskell Askins and Dr. Homer Campbell and extend to their families my condolences. 

I also repeat the prayers and best wishes of our membership for Dr. Jerry Vale and Dr. David Sweet during these difficult times.   Also, Dr. Vale was awarded his ABFO Diplomat Emeritus certificate in California just prior to the meeting.  

I also join our organization in thanking Aribex and Dexis for their support of the ABFO during the past year.  

I thank Dr. Wright, our Immediate Past-president for his dedication which included testifying in Washington DC before the Presidential National Committee on Science and Technology and I thank those who helped him marshal his facts and issues to present.  

We had a great meeting in Chicago .   The Annual ABFO Dinner was well attended and the food and hospitality at Ditka's was outstanding – thank you Dr. Jack Kenney for making all of the arrangements for our meeting.   The Age-estimation Workshop on the first weekend as well as the Bitemark Workshop on the concluding weekend were great successes.   Thank you to the members who worked so diligently to put them on and who contributed their time and knowledge as speakers and evaluators. Special thanks to Drs. Lewis, Freeman, and David for steering these workshops.   Remember, next year in Atlanta the ABFO will present workshops on Dental Identification (pre) and Civil Litigation (post).   Look for info elsewhere on the website.  

As we move into this year the ABFO is active on many fronts – we have established a one-year policy concerning the technical review of bitemark comparisons/reports; we are moving to get the Bitemark Repository up and running and also moving toward a similar effort in Age Estimation; the new Recertification Examination is operating as the 28 Diplomats who recertified this year can attest; after several years of effort the ABFO archives have been incorporated into the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, DC; the ABFO #2 Scale has returned "home" to our members benefit; the requirements for application to challenge the ABFO have been tweaked with the addition of age estimation requirements taking effect in 2014; we heard from SUNY Buffalo in regards to their ongoing work in measuring the uniqueness of the human dental arch; one of our Diplomats received a grant from the NIJ of over $700,000 to study bitemarks as well; the ABFO has launched a preliminary discussion of proficiency testing; SWGDVI exists with several ABFO members involved; SWGODONT may come to exist as well; and much more to come later.  

Please continue to monitor the website and the Members Only side.   It will be a short and busy year I predict.  

Robert E. Barsley, D.D.S., J.D.

President, DABFO