Richard Shelby announces $4M to establish a national center on forensics at University of Alabama
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby announced that the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) agency has awarded $4,000,000 to the University of Alabama (UA) to establish and operate a National Center on Forensics. The funding is in partnership with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences (ADFS) and the Alabama District Attorney’s Association. The funding was provided through the FY21 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The center helps provide forensic science and legal training to law enforcement, district judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice agencies. It will also give access to education, training, and provide best practices in the forensic science community. “The U.S. Department of Justice has awarded The University of Alabama $4 million for the development of a National Center on Forensics, one of the first of its kind in the United States. This is outstanding news,” Shelby said in a press release. “The NIJ funding will allow UA to implement important training and learning opportunities in fields where forensic science and law intersect, with a heightened focus on underserved rural areas. I look forward to the lasting benefits that this new center will undoubtedly have on forensic science for years to come.” Senior associate vice president for research and economic development Dr. John Higginbotham stated, “This unique and emergent initiative will enable our UA team and our UAB partners to help improve forensic investigation, particularly in rural areas of our state and become a national leader for these training and learning opportunities. The grant will provide many valuable benefits, including the ability to offer medical and legal learning opportunities for students training as deputy medical examiners or coroners, with a special emphasis for those planning to live and work in underserved rural areas. We are grateful for the support of Senator Shelby during this highly competitive grant process and look forward to formally presenting this to the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees.” ADFS director Angelo Della Manna praised Shelby’s efforts. “The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences is one of the nation’s oldest forensic science systems and has a long and well-established history of excelling in several previous NIJ forensic science initiatives. As the only accredited provider of forensic science services in Alabama, ADFS is uniquely positioned to help train medical students early on in their medical school education sequence on the exciting career options of becoming a medical examiner/coroner through the Center, as well as helping the Center provide local, state, and nationwide training to forensic science practitioners on new and emerging technologies in the field. We offer our deepest thanks to Senator Shelby for his long-standing support of forensic science and look forward to partnering with UA in this exciting endeavor to create the National Center on Forensics on the campus of the University of Alabama,” stated Della Manna.
