Forensic Frontiers

Join us for an exciting "murder mystery" session where we dive into the world of biological sample analysis! We'll introduce four fascinating methods for examining biological samples in a way that's easy to understand.
During this session, you'll have the chance to engage in solving a thrilling mystery. Whether you choose to participate individually or team up with friends, get ready to put your detective skills to the test!
So, are you ready to unravel the mystery and learn about these intriguing methods of analysis? Come join us for an interactive and educational experience that will leave you both entertained and enlightened!

Automation of the process of detecting cancerous regions in tissue samples removed from patients with breast cancer. We utilise Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition to devise a process for automatically identifying likely cancerous regions within x-ray images collected immediately following tissue removal. By combining this with some simple Computer Vision tricks and techniques, we are able to automatically identify the need for additional tissue removal and pinpoint the specific areas where additional removal is required.

In 2016, Eric Loomis was sentenced to prison in Wisconsin, USA. His sentence length was informed by an algorithm called COMPAS. He asked for more information about how the sentence length was calculated because he believed it may disadvantage people based on gender and race. He was told that COMPAS is protected under the ‘trade secrets act’ so he couldn’t know whether this influenced his sentence length.
This is not an isolated case - similar tools are being used in the UK. I’ll discuss whether algorithms have a place in our justice systems, and whether we can trust them.