2010 Francine & Michael Saferstein Memorial Lectures
Guest Speaker: Dr. Joseph Almog, Professor of
Forensic Chemistry at Casali Institute of Applied Chemistry at HUJI Joseph
Forensic Science as a Strategic Tool in Combating Terror
The eleventh Francine and Michael Saferstein Memorial Lectures were presented on March 8, 2010 by Dr. Joseph Almog, Professor of Forensic Chemistry in the Casali Institute of Applied Chemistry, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Dr. Almog obtained his PhD in organic chemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and conducted research with Nobel Laureate Sir Derek Barton, at Imperial College in London, and with Sir Jack Baldwin at MIT, Mass. He joined the Israel Police in 1974 as assistant head of the R&D division, and in 1984 was appointed Director of the Division of Identification and Forensic Science (DIFS), the national crime-lab of the State of Israel.
In October 2000, Dr. Almog joined the Science Faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he is currently Professor of Forensic Chemistry, at the Casali Institute of Applied Chemistry. Over the last two decades, he has been active in advancing forensic science as a tool against terrorism. He has written over 100 articles and book chapters in chemistry and forensic science.
As the speaker at the 2010 Saferstein Memorial Lectures, Dr. Almog described a number of terror incidents that were either thwarted or solved by forensic tools. New field diagnostic techniques can detect explosive traces, color firearms impressions on hands, and develop latent fingerprints on documents. Significant contributions of coordinated counter-terrorism intelligence operations include the early detection of new trends, and the ability to link various incidents; accordingly, international cooperation is increasing.
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