David San Pietro, Ph.D.

During this time I completed my graduate studies at the City University of New York’s Hunter College where I obtained a Master of Arts in the Biological Sciences with a Molecular Biology concentration in June of 1991.

From 1992 to 2016 I worked as a forensic DNA analyst in both the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner’s Forensic Biology/DNA laboratory, and the Westchester County Forensic Laboratory. It was at these positions that I began working as a DNA analyst as well as a bloodstain pattern analyst, crime scene investigator and reconstructionist.

I have had the opportunity to have been involved in various DNA validation projects as well as coordinating Westchester County Forensic Lab’s efforts toward laboratory accreditation in the discipline of Crime Scene Investigation. This resulted in our lab being one of the first two labs in the country to obtain this status.

In May of 2016 I was conferred with a Ph.D. in Forensic Science through both the Universities of Verona (Italy) and New Haven. The focus of my thesis research was DNA damage and its repair, and the application and assessment of repair methods for use with compromised evidence samples. The research relied on the application of PCR based methods and capillary electrophoresis.

I was an adjunct faculty in Residence in the Forensic Science program at the University of New Haven for approximately the last 19 years.

I am currently a Diplomate of the American Board of Criminalistics, and a member of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the International Association for Identification.

Experience

Associate Professor of Forensic Science, University of New Haven, August 2016 to present.

Forensic Science Specialist, Westchester County Forensic Laboratory, Forensic Biology Unit, February 2006 to August 2016.

Forensic Scientist, Westchester County Forensic Laboratory, Forensic Biology Unit, October 1998 to February 2006.

Practitioner in Residence of Forensic Science at the University of New Haven, September 2004 to present.

Adjunct Faculty of Forensic Science at the University of New Haven, September 1997 to September 2004.

Forensic Scientist, Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Department of Forensic Biology, September 1995 to August 1997. 

Memberships/Affiliations

International Society of Forensic Genetics

Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists: 1987 to present.

American Academy of Forensic Sciences: 1995 to present.

International Association for Identification: 2001 to present.

International Society for Forensic Genetics: 2014 to present.

Certifications

Diplomat of the American Board of Criminalistics