sztyndaresearch

Dr Tamara Sztynda


Dr Tamara Sztynda Phone: +61 2 9514 4157 Fax: +61 2 9514 8206 Tamara.Sztynda@uts.edu.au Academic Qualifications BSc (Hons), MSc and PhD (Medicine - U of Melbourne) Teaching Activities Inaugural Course Director of Forensic Biology Subject Co-ordinator of Anatomical Biology and Investigation of Human Remains Team Lecturer and Demonstrator in Haematology 1, Biological Evidence, Complex Forensic Cases (Biology), Transfusion Science, Medical Science 1 & 2 Research Interests and Activities *The Forensic Value of the Human Ear - with Dr Meiya Sutisno* EAR PRINTS - Hons Test the viability of ear print comparison in the identification of people. Ear prints on a variety of surfaces will be examined and compared to photographed images of the same ear. Subjects will also be screened for familial ear traits and the differences in right and left ears will be compared and analysed. EAR ANATOMY - Hons done by Amie Allotta in 2005 The structure of the human external ear is variable between ethnic populations. Morphological analysis of these variations reveals the ear's potential use in human identification. Ear morphology has had successful applications in crime scene investigation, used as an adjunct to traditional identification techniques. The efficient and inexpensive processes involved in analysing the ear show probable use in disaster victim identification and verification of persons captures on CCTV footage. Currently, Australia lacks specific classification criteria for forensic morphological analysis of the ear, with limited morphological data recorded for particular racial populations. The Asian Mongoloid population is one such group. This project constituted 87 Mongoloid participants whose parents descended from East and Southeast Asia. EAR BIOMETRICS - Hons done by Elias Messaike in 2005 If for any reason, a person cannot be identified using known biometric identifiers such as DNA and fingerprints, ear identification may be used in the form of ear biometric analysis, which is the measurement of the ear. From the 4180 measurements collected and catalogued it was found each sampled Mongoloid person had a unique set of biometric measurements for each ear. A Discriminate Function Analysis (DFA) test showed that ear biometric analysis was not a powerful tool for the determination of a person Mongoloid sub-group. However, a high degree of probability showed that sex could be differentiated using De Winne's ear biometric method (Belgium DVI expert). The study showed that the ear did have the potential to identify a person, their sex and possibly, with further research in the future, their racial sub-group. Pathology FORENSIC PATHOLOGY with Dr Neil Langlois (Westmead) BONE HEALING with Dr David Little (NHMRC funding New Children's Hospital) Research topics for Honours and Postgraduate Students With Dr Meiya Sutisno - Skullforensics a private Forensic Anatomy consultancy Identification using Human Posture as a Component of Body Mapping 'Body Mapping', is used to identify people by Dr Sutisno, where she examines photographs and video tapes of known a individual, determining their identifying features and mannerisms. With this information she can view film, video and still images to determine whether the person in these images is one and the same as the known individual. This project will investigate peoples posture as an adjunct of the Body Mapping process, and what part it plays in the identification. Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Image Comparisons in Determining Identity Identification has been determined by Australian courts as the role of an expert and different from that of recognition, because 'experts' systematically and scientifically characterise an individual. They can more easily differentiate between people of the same age, height, build and body type than the general public. Much work has been done to differentiate between the quality of images from different types of CCTV's and engineers have determined that recognition of an individual from these sorts of images is not reliable. We wish to examine this premise from the 'identification experts' point of view, by investigating these images, the camera resolution and angle of capture to see if indeed an 'expert' can identify individuals. Image to Image Photographic Superimposition to Support Forensic Suspect Identification Surveillance camera images (closed circuit television [CCT or CCTV]) taken of offenders during the commitment of a crime requires validation to establish positive identification. Courts require this validation to establish the evidential value and weight of image to image photographic superimposition as a proven method of identification. With Ms Michelle McDonald - Orthopaedic Research and Biotechnology, New Children's Hospital Westmead The role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) in fracture repair The study involves using our rat fracture model and applying an MMP inhibitor and analysing the effect on endochondral ossification. It is a purely histology based project to determine the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP's) in bone healing. MMP's are expressed by chondroclasts, osteoclasts and blood vessels and are capable of cleaving components of the extracellular matrix such as collagen. Proteolysis of the extracellular matrix allows cellular migration and release of stored signalling molecules, thus it is essential to the process of vascular invasion. Research staff and students Michelle McDonald (PhD student at the New Children's Hospital, Westmead researching the effects of bisphosphonate drugs on osteoclasts activity in bone healing) Selected publications RECENT PUBLICATIONS Tarran S. Dziewulski P. Sztynda T. Langlois NE. 2004 A study of p53 expression in thermal burns of human skin for determination of wound age. Medicine, Science & the Law. 44:222-6 Jackson, C. J., Xue, M., Thompson, P., Davey, R., Whitmont, K., Smith, S., Buisson-Legendre, N., Sztynda, T., Jackson, L., Cooper, A., Sambrook, P., and March, L. (2005) Activated protein C prevents inflammation yet stimulates angiogenesis to promote cutaneous wound healing. Wound Rep. Regen, 13: 284-294 Tarran S. Langlois NE. Sztynda T. Dziewulski P. Using the inflammatory cell infiltrate to estimate the age of human burn wounds - a review and immunohistochemical study. Submitted to Medicine, Science & the Law October 2005 RECENT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS McDonald MM, Dulai SK, Godfrey C, Sztynda T, Little DG Single dose Zoledronic Acid Treatment is superior to continuous treatment in enhancing hard callus formation and strength without delayed hard callus remodelling What is New in Bisphosphonates, Davos, Switzerland March 2006 [Poster Presentation] McDonald MM, Dulai SK, Godfrey C, Sztynda T, Little DG Endochondral Repair and Development Proceed Normally during Zoledronic Acid Treatment What is New in Bisphosphonates, Davos, Switzerland March 2006 [Poster Presentation] A. Allotta, Elias Messaike, Narelle Smith, Fraser Torpy, Dr Meiya Sutisnoand Dr Tamara Sztynda The Human Ear - An Adjunct for Identification 18th Symposium on the Forensic Sciences, Fremantle, Australia March 2006 [Oral presentation] E. Messaike, M. Sutisno, F. Torpy and T. Sztynda Mapping the Human Auricle in Asians Residing in the Sydney Region 18th Symposium on the Forensic Sciences, Fremantle, Australia March 2006 [Poster presentation] A. Allotta, N. Smith, T. Sztynda, M. Sutisno Forensic Morphological Analysis of the Asian Ear 18th Symposium on the Forensic Sciences, Fremantle, Australia March 2006 [Poster presentation]