SciBar is science in a bar - an invited speaker gives a talk on a scientific topic while people enjoy a drink or meal, with a Q&A afterwards. Bollington SciBar takes place at the Vale Inn in Bollington.

The speaker in November is Dr Noemi Procopio, from the University of Central Lancashire.

Topic of the talk: How often have we heard about criminal cases that remain unresolved and fade into oblivion? Unsolved cases have significant economic and societal impacts on every nation, both in terms of the resources allocated to their investigation and prosecution, and in the sense of insecurity they generate within communities, breeding distrust towards the criminal justice system.

Dr Procopio's Forens-OMICS team at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston is pioneering innovative research aimed at enhancing our understanding of complex forensic cases involving highly decomposed remains or contentious factors such as time of death or victim age. By leveraging cutting-edge scientific approaches, known as '-omics' disciplines, the group is developing molecular methods to more accurately estimate post-mortem intervals (PMI) compared to current methodologies. This research is conducted in collaboration with Human Taphonomy Facilities in the USA, where donated cadavers undergo controlled decomposition studies to advance our knowledge of post-mortem phenomena. This presentation will take the audience on a journey through unresolved cases, the scientific work conducted in our laboratory, our collaboration with the Human Taphonomy Facilities, and our recent involvement in a real case aimed at uncovering the truth behind a mysterious death.

No charge, all welcome. Vale Inn, Adlington Road, talk begins 6.30pm.

About the speaker

Dr Noemi Procopio is a Senior Research Fellow in Forensic Taphonomy and the Principal Investigator of the "Forens-OMICS" team at the University of Central Lancashire. Her main research involves the application of proteomics, metabolomics, DNA methylomics and microbiology disciplines to forensic science, particularly to skeletal remains and decomposing tissues, for post-mortem interval (PMI) and age-at-death estimation. In 2019, Dr Noemi Procopio was awarded with the prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (£1.2M) with the project titled ""Forens-OMICS": a cross disciplinary implementation of omics sciences to in vivo and post-mortem ageing investigations for forensic applications" and recently she has been awarded an extension to her original FLF (£700K) to expand further her "Forens-OMICS" research. Her work is done in collaboration with Human Taphonomy Facilities in the United States (including the University of Texas State, where she is also Visiting Researcher) and with other international leading experts in Australia, Italy, Netherlands, USA and France.