Professional-tier (associate & full) members, volunteers as well as affiliate members with a webinar pass can access all past webinar recordings via the membership portal.
Below you can find our upcoming events:
Webinar: Simulating shared segments among relatives and calculating relatives’ sharing rates
The event is ticketed. Please see the registration details and the pricing listed below.
🎟️ External: £10
🎟️ Affiliate: £3
🎟️ Associate members, full members, volunteers & webinar pass holders: FREE
Prof. Amy L. Williams is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Brigham Young University. Previously, she worked as a Senior Scientist at 23andMe until November 2024, and was an Associate Professor of Computational Biology at Cornell University until December 2022. She received her PhD (2010) and SM (2005) degrees in Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and BS (2003) degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Utah. From 2009-2013 she worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School, and from 2013-2014 she was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Columbia University.
Webinar topic: Genealogical relatives can inherit DNA from a common ancestor in identical-by-descent (IBD) segments, but the amount of DNA they share depends on how closely related they are. We developed the software Ped-sim for simulating DNA transmission in user-specified pedigrees. Ped-sim incorporates differences in the way males and females transmit DNA as well as the fact that switches between which chromosome a parent transmits (i.e., crossovers) are further from each other than random expectation (termed crossover interference). We compared Ped-sim’s simulated IBD sharing rates to those from real data and found it to be more realistic than traditional models. To understand how often relatives share DNA, we leveraged Ped-sim to generate 100,000 pairs of first through eighth cousins, including half-cousins and produced plots depicting these sharing rates.
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Below you can find our past events:
Webinar: Implementation of FIGG: The Australian Experience
The event is ticketed. Please see the registration details and the pricing listed below.
🎟️ External: £10
🎟️ Affiliate: £3
🎟️ Associate members, full members, volunteers & webinar pass holders: FREE
Registration closed.
Alison Sears is the Principal Forensic Scientist for the NSW Police Force and a leading Australian voice in forensic investigative genetic genealogy. She chairs the national FIGG Specialist Advisory Group under ANZPAA NIFS, tasked with guiding the development and responsible implementation of FIGG in Australia, and participates in the International FIGG law enforcement roundtable. With extensive operational DNA experience, Alison’s work centres on delivering scientifically robust, ethically grounded, and operationally effective genetic technologies for contemporary policing. Co-author of several internationally recognised research publications on FIGG operationalisation in Australia, Forensic DNA Phenotyping, and Forensic Intelligence, Alison regularly presents and co‑facilitates workshops with national and international partners to support global advancement of an informed and ethical FIGG practice.
During the webinar: we will explore the collaborative research and operational pathway that led to a state FIGG capability for NSWPF, the formation of a National FIGG Specialist Advisory Group and experience-based learnings in that operationalisation journey so far.
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Webinar: Forensic applications
from limited samples
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Prof. Richard E. Green (Ed) was born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA in 1972. He graduated from the University of Georgia (B.Sc. Genetics) in 1997. Before graduate school, Ed was in Peace Corps (Barentu, Eritrea) and was a lab tech at Emory University. Ed studied with Steven Brenner at the University of California, Berkeley where he got his PhD in 2005 on computational algorithms for sequence analysis and alternative splicing. As an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Svante Paabo at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Ed pioneered the use of high-throughput sequencing in ancient DNA. He was first author of the paper in Science describing the Neanderthal genome which won the Newcombe-Cleveland prize. As Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, he co-directs the UCSC Paleogenomics lab. His research focuses on comparative genomics, population genetics, and DNA technology development. Prof. Green is co-founder of Dovetail Genomics, Claret Biosciences, and Astrea Forensics. He is a Kavli Scholar, a Searle Scholar and a Sloan Scholar, author of over 100 research manuscripts and 16 US Patents patents.
Webinar topic: Many DNA-laden samples, like rootless hair, have not been amenable to traditional forensics applications. Astrea Forensics has pioneered technology for extracting and interpreting DNA from these samples. We routinely generate SNP genotype files, suitable for Forensics Investigative Genetic Genealogy, from simple hair shafts, bone fragments, and other limited samples. Prof. Green will demonstrate the utility of their lab and computational tools for bringing the power of FIGG to the most difficult samples.
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Webinar: FIGG in Sweden: Law, Practice, and Progress
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Dr Siri Aili Fagerholm is a Senior Advisor at the National Forensic Centre (NFC), Swedish Police Authority, and is working with DNA analyses of crime scene samples as well as FIGG. Dr Aili Fagerholm is also a member of SoFIGG’s advisory board.
During the webinar we will discuss the first national legislation in Europe regulating the use of FIGG. Examples will be given on how the new legal framework in Sweden defines both the possibilities and limitations for future applications of FIGG, including the essential safeguards required to ensure responsible use of the method.
We will also revisit the pilot case study conducted that preceded the legislative change – an investigation in which a double murder case was successfully solved through FIGG, and that laid the foundation for the continued use of FIGG in police investigations. In addition, we will talk about ongoing activities and potential future developments in this rapidly evolving field from a law enforcement perspective.
Webinar: From Clusters to Lineages: Automated Genetic Genealogy with FTDNA and GEDmatch
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Dr Evert‑Jan Blom, a Dutch molecular geneticist and bioinformatics researcher, is the founder of Genetic Affairs — a platform dedicated to enabling advanced genetic genealogy through a suite of automated analytical tools. Dr Blom is also a member of SoFIGG’s advisory board.
During the webinar we will explore how automated analysis can transform the way we work with GEDmatch and FTDNA data. From segment-based tools and admixture analysis to automated clustering and lineage reconstruction, we will demonstrate how these technologies reveal ancestral patterns that might supplement and speed up traditional workflows.
We will highlight the practical value of these tools for genealogical and FIGG casework, where combining trees can narrow down ancestral lines. Looking ahead, we will examine how the AutoLineage suite brings together data from multiple platforms, opening new possibilities for integrated and highly efficient genetic genealogy research.
Webinar: What you didn’t really want to know about the Y chromosome.
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Dr Thomas Krahn is the co-founder of YSEQ GmbH, a global leader in Y-chromosome and mtDNA testing and co-developer of several genetic genealogy tools. He is also known for discovering the A00 haplogroup, a significant contribution to understanding human genetic diversity.
During the webinar we will examine the current laboratory methods available and the limitations they impose on our ability to maintain the uniparental discrimination power essential for genealogical research. Additionally, we’ll explore emerging long-read sequencing technologies and discuss why we cannot currently achieve a “T2T” (telomere-to-telomere) sequencing of the Y chromosome for living genealogical samples.
Webinar: Hidden Signatures in the Genome: How Runs of Homozygosity Reveal Human History, Genealogy, and Trait Architecture
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Dr Francisco C. Ceballos is a biologist with a PhD in human population genetics and a Master’s in statistics. His research combines genetics, bioinformatics, and statistical modelling to study how human history and health are shaped by patterns of homozygosity and inbreeding. During his doctoral work at the University of Santiago de Compostela, he used royal dynasties as “natural laboratories” of human inbreeding, applying extended genealogies and historical data to explore the consequences of consanguinity across time.
