Suzanna Ryan, MS, D-ABC, possesses over 15 years of experience in the field of
Forensic Serology and
DNA Analysis including her last position as Forensic DNA Technical Leader of an ASCLD/LAB accredited private DNA laboratory.
Unlike many forensic DNA consultants, Ms. Ryan is in the unique position of having actually worked for many years in both private and public DNA labs. This gives her an insider's look into the inner workings of a forensic DNA laboratory. Ms. Ryan has extensive experience technically reviewing DNA data and casefiles. She has also been a qualified DNA Auditor, having completed the FBI's DNA Auditor Workshop and is Certified as a Diplomate in Molecular Biology by the American Board of Criminalistics.
In addition to her considerable forensic caseworking experience, which includes processing several thousand cases, Ms. Ryan has also served as an adjunct professor for National University's Master of Forensic Science program where she taught the
Advanced Forensic Serology and DNA course as well as the
Advanced Criminalistics course. She has also given and continues to offer multiple presentations on DNA evidence and the capabilities of the DNA crime lab to students, investigators, attorneys, and sexual assault nurse examiners.
Ms. Ryan has also been a contributor to
Law Officer Magazine,
LawOfficer.com, and
Forensic Magazine. She was recently selected as a Review Board Member of the American Investigative Society of Cold Cases.
View Suzanna Ryan's Expert Witness Profile.
It used to be that if your DNA was found at a crime scene, there was a pretty good chance that not only were you present at that crime scene, but you probably were involved in the crime as well. After all, if your blood was found on the murder weapon or your semen was found on or in the victim, chances are you were probably intimately involved with the person and/or the crime.
In April of 2010, the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) published a report entitled Interpretation Guidelines for Autosomal STR Typing by DNA Testing Laboratories. This document updates and supersedes the previous SWGDAM Interpretation document released ten years earlier in 2000 and is now being used as guidance in crime labs across the nation.
