Teaching & Research

The Academic Programs division of VIFM, in partnership with Monash University through the Department of Forensic Medicine, seeks to educate and inspire the next generation of forensic scientists and practitioners. This is realized through a dedicated forensic medical and scientific University based education program. Considerable effort is also devoted to researching new methods and tools to enhance forensic medical and scientific practice, both nationally and internationally.

The Department of Forensic Medicine is a world leading teaching institution offering an unparalleled opportunity to undertake undergraduate and post-graduate study in forensic medicine and science in a fully operational forensic medical environment.

Academic Programs and DFM’s research focus is a key pillar that underpins the work of forensic practitioners and better establishes the evidence basis for opinions rendered to Courts of Law. Established in the late 1980’s, the Department of Forensic Medicine has made major contributions to the international fields of forensic medicine, science, and law.

TEACHING

Encompassing a wide range of forensic medical and scientific disciplines, our education underpins the integrity we are renowned for in the judicial and health care systems. Our high standing in the wider community has been built on a platform of trust and authority delivered through teaching excellence.

Our teaching team: comprised of current and former forensic doctors and scientists, allows our students to gain cutting edge insight and real-world knowledge directly applicable to forensic practice.

Further Education – Postgraduate

Master of Forensic Medicine

Monash University’s Department of Forensic Medicine, in partnership with VIFM, offers the Master of Forensic Medicine, a world leading postgraduate program delivered by professional forensic practitioners. This unique course, the only degree of its type offered in the southern hemisphere, is at the forefront of forensic medical, scientific, and technical knowledge.

Divided into three streams; Clinical Forensic Medicine, Forensic Odontology and Forensic Medical Science, the program is designed for doctors, dentists, and medical scientists, seeking entry into the world of forensics, or looking to enhance their own knowledge base. The fundamental philosophy of the degree is to produce fully developed graduates with a robust understanding of forensic practice, academic standards, and a comprehensive knowledge of medico-legal principals. Students graduate with a complete set of skills and tools that will allow them to provide the highest level of forensic services to the community.

The Master of Forensic Medicine program is an AQF Level 9 Expert degree that is recognised and held in high regard both internationally and domestically. In Australia, all Heads of Clinical Forensic Medical services in each respective state and territory hold this qualification.

Find out more about the Master of Forensic Medicine here.

Graduate Certificate of Forensic Nursing and Midwifery

The Graduate Certificate of Forensic Nursing and Midwifery provides students with advanced expertise and specialised knowledge in forensic nursing and midwifery. Designed for nurses with an interest in forensic practice, the course allows students to investigate and explore contemporary issues and techniques in forensic nursing and midwifery.

Students will gain knowledge about the Australian legal system, laws of evidence, the classification of injuries and forensic examination responsibilities arising from physical injury and sexual assault. The course will provide skill-based training in the preparation of medico-legal reports and delivering evidence in court settings. Other skills taught in this unit include accurate documentation of injuries, collection of forensic evidence, and the consideration of complex ethical issues.

Find out more about the Graduate Certificate of Forensic Nursing and Midwifery here

Short Courses

The Commonwealth Department of Social Services (DSS) as an initiative under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and their Children 2022-2032, fund accredited training for frontline workers in how to recognise and respond appropriately to disclosures of sexual violence. Through a nationally competitive process, the DSS contracted a consortium led by Monash University to undertake the development of Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) and medical college accredited training.

Recognising and Responding to Sexual Violence

The three-unit Course in Recognising and Responding to Sexual Violence delivered by Monash University’s Department of Forensic Medicine comprises of:

Other Available Short Courses:

Postmortem CT Interpretation

Thursday 3 – Saturday 5 October 2024
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Digital Transformation in Forensic Science

Wednesday 6 – Thursday 7 November 2024
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Introduction to Human Osteology

Monday 11 – Thursday 14 November 2024
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Postmortem Radiography

Saturday 16 November 2024
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Wrongful Convictions

Thursday 21st – Friday 22nd November 2024
Learn More

Undergraduate Education

We provide undergraduate forensic medical education to Monash students enrolled in a number of courses in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and the Faculty of Science. Our contributions include an innovative medicolegal tutorial program for Monash medical students, taught by medical lawyers and clinicians, and an introduction to forensic medicine and science, offered to Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Biomedical Science, and Bachelor of Health Sciences students

Research

Fundamental to all VIFM and DFM research programs is a drive to deliver relevant findings that enhance public health and safety, and which are also applicable to forensic issues in the judicial system. Focusing on a variety of relevant themes, the research and development conducted within Academic Programs has significantly contributed to death and injury prevention both domestically and internationally and has impacted positively on the veracity of opinions for the Coronial and criminal justice system.

The sensitive nature of our research necessitates high levels of oversight and ethical practices as we strive to service the community. Governance is therefore a vital component of our research, ensuring and protecting the integrity and legitimacy of our research outcomes, whilst ensuring privacy and confidentiality for research study populations.

Research Units

Research, including the ability to communicate research findings, is essential to effective forensic medical and scientific practice. It is not enough for forensic experts to apply their scientific knowledge in examining patients or analysing specimens. The results of our investigations need to directly benefit the community, as well as be communicated to and understood by the justice system. We are committed to harnessing our specialist data to improve our service delivery, and to contribute to the international body of forensic medical and scientific knowledge.

Drug Intelligence

Led by forensic toxicologist, Associate Professor Jennifer Schumann, the Drug Intelligence Research unit specialises in the investigation of the harmful outcomes of licit and illicit drug use on the community. Utilising a multidisciplinary approach combining clinical and forensic toxicology, public health and injury epidemiology, research from this unit has led directly to changes in Australian policy and practice. The unit continues to be a research leader in this field with a focus on death prevention and safer drug use.

Death Investigation and Prevention

Forensic Pathology

Led by the Director Prof. Noel Woodford and Forensic Pathologist Dr Sarah Parsons, this research unit focuses on questions concerning the medical investigation of death. Particularly, the unit conducts research that enhances understanding of various factors influencing cause of death determination, the application of new technology for the forensic autopsy, and the development of new investigative methods and tools.

Forensic Anthropology

The Forensic Anthropology Research Unit (FARU) comprises forensic anthropology Professor Soren Blau and Dr Samantha Rowbotham, who undertake research that aims to address questions that have arisen during casework. This research includes aspects of search and recovery, the analysis and interpretation of skeletal trauma, evidence in court, and human identification. Research within FARU is supported through various national and international research grants and findings are published in peer-reviewed forensic medical and science journals. Dr Rowbotham and Professor Blau also supervise honours and postgraduate (Master and PhD) students from Monash and external Universities.

Injury Prevention

Led by Emeritus Professor Ozanne-Smith, the Injury Prevention Research Unit focuses on drowning, consumer product safety, child injury, injury prevention in low and middle income countries and injury data systems. This research unit has contributed to the World Health Organization initiatives, such as the Global Report of Drowning and the World Report on Child Injury Prevention as well as Australia’s National Injury Prevention Strategy (2023).

Molecular Biology

Led by Dr Dadna Hartman, the Molecular Biology laboratory at the VIFM in collaboration with Monash University and partners, conducts research of emerging DNA capabilities. Current activities include the evaluation of Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG) capabilities for use in Australia and Rapid DNA testing to improve processes in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) setting.

Violence Investigation, Research and Training Unit

Led by the Associate Professor Lyndal Bugeja and Dr Maaike Moller, the Violence Investigation Research and Training Unit (VIRTU) performs research and training activities that enhance the medico-legal investigation of self-directed and interpersonal violence. These activities are intended to contribute to the evidence-base on violence to support the criminal justice system and public health and safety outcomes. Current projects include: examining the prevalence and characteristics of self-reported neck compression among patients presenting for a clinical forensic examination in Victoria; diagnostic tests used to identify neck and head injuries following neck compression among victims of interpersonal violence: a systematic review; the feasibility of end-to-end data tracking of sexual assaults in Victoria; and input into the Commonwealth Department of Social Services grant on training for frontline workers to recognise, respond and refer of victim / survivors of sexual violence.

Informed

Led by Professor Richard Bassed, this unit aims to harness the developing power of AI to better understand our vast data repository leading to novel analysis opportunities and potentially new tools and methods.

The VIFM is a custodian of a world-unique data collection. This data consists of 100,000 full body CT scans of deceased individuals who have been admitted to the VIFM to be investigated by the State Coroner. This database includes all ages from 0 – 100 years plus, and represents all causes of death, from natural disease to accidental trauma, to homicide. The VIFM also holds a database of over 2 million digital photographic images of deceased persons, including detailed images of injuries, internal pathological conditions, and external whole body and facial images. Alongside these image databases are autopsy reports, police and ambulance reports, toxicology reports, and coroners’ findings relating to each case.

Machine Learning is a proving a promising technique to unlock the information contained within our unique data collection. To achieve this, VIFM is engaged in a number of collaborations across Australia to develop techniques that are able to answer specific and highly relevant forensic and clinical questions – including active collaborations with Monash University.

Forensic Medicine and Human Rights

International Programs

Led by Professor Noel Woodford and Dr Elizabeth Manning the VIFM’s International Program is a central facilitation, coordination and monitoring point for the Institute’s national and international activities. The Program provides support for professional staff engaged in national and international work, as well as support for visiting on-site international medical and scientific fellows.

Global Research Initiative on Forensic Medicine and Human Rights (GRIFM)

Led by Emeritus Professor Stephen Cordner, and Assoc Professor Bebe Loff, GRIFM was formed following the appointment of Adjunct Professor Morris Tidball-Binz as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial, Arbitrary or Summary Executions. In effect, this makes Professor Tidball-Binz the Special Rapporteur on the right to life, especially concerning unlawful killings in a variety of circumstances. A summary of the vision that will enable Adjunct Professor Morris Tidball-Binz to deliver on his mandate was submitted to the United Nations in August 2021. In 2022 a report on the capacity/capability of medicolegal death investigation systems from 60 global jurisdictions was submitted and published on the UN website. In 2023 a report on global shortcomings in the investigation and prevention of deaths in custody was also completed and submitted.

Researcher Biographies

Professor Richard Bassed

Richard is the VIFM Deputy Director and Head of Academic Programs, and the Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University.

Richard’s research interests include forensic aspects of post-mortem CT interpretation, personal identification using advanced imaging techniques, improving the evidence base in Forensic Medicine and Science, craniofacial trauma in the setting of violence against women and girls, and the application of new technology to problems in forensic medicine and science in the Global setting.

Richard has a Bachelor degree in Dental Surgery from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Forensic Odontology from the University of Melbourne, and a PhD from the department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology within the RCPA.

Assoc Professor Lyndal Bugeja

Associate Professor Lyndal Bugeja is the research lead of the Violence Investigation Research and Training Unit and Course Coordinator of Postgraduate Programs at the Department of Forensic Medicine. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with honours in criminology, Master of Forensic Medicine and a research doctorate in public health. Her professional experience supporting medico-legal death investigations and the utility of information generated for these investigations has been applied to pre and post-vention responses to injury and violence. She has contributed to the development of a number of injury and violence mortality surveillance systems to enhance the medico-legal investigation for the purposes of prevention.

In collaboration with research colleagues she has been awarded competitive grants from both international and national funding bodies, including the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council and Department of Social Services.

Lyndal has designed and led a number of collaborative research studies that have culminated in the development of evidence-based recommendations to mitigate the risk of injury and violence. Her research has contributed to legislative and policy changes that subsequently reduced fatal injury. Lyndal is an accredited higher degrees supervisor and has supervised students for Work Integrate Learning placements and in Honours, Masters and PhD programs.

Professor Emeritus Stephen Cordner AM

Stephen Cordner is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash University in Australia. A forensic pathologist by background, he was the founding member of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and was the Director from 1987 – 2014.

Stephen has a particular expertise in mass casualty management, disaster victim identification and international forensic medical capacity development. He is particularly committed to teaching and has undertaken or organised specialist forensic medical training in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Botswana, Uganda, Namibia, Palestine and Afghanistan.

Stephen was deployed to the Philippines for a month in late 2013 to provide advice to the WHO on mass casualty management following the devastation wreaked by Typhoon Haiyan. In 2014 Stephen was deployed to Liberia for the ICRC to provide advice on Ebola infection control related to dead body management and in 2015 Stephen travelled to Nepal following the earthquakes for the ICRC to provide advice on disaster victim identification.

Stephen has worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and has undertaken forensic medical investigative work in Kosovo; East Timor; Fiji; and Bali as well as extensive case work in Australia.

Stephen received the Medal of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia – for service in Bali following the bombings and the Medal of the World Association of Societies of Pathology – for service to forensic pathology internationally.

In 2005 Stephen was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to forensic medicine and pathology nationally and internationally.

Professor Emeritus Joan Ozanne-Smith AO

Professor Emeritus Joan Ozanne-Smith heads the Injury Prevention Research Unit at the Monash University Department of Forensic Medicine. She has qualifications in medicine, public health, and sociology a research Doctorate in injury epidemiology and a Fellowship of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine.

Her injury prevention research is multi-disciplinary, interfacing the methods of epidemiology and public health with those of other disciplines and includes injury prevention in low- and middle-income countries, drowning, safe design, child injury prevention and injury data systems.

She has spent almost two decades as Director of major data systems: initially the Victorian Injury Surveillance System followed by the National Coronial Information System.

She is a co-editor of the WHO/UNICEF World report on child injury prevention (2008) and the WHO Global report on drowning: Preventing a leading killer (2014) and a contributor to the subsequent: Preventing drowning: an implementation guide (WHO 2017). Joan led the Monash team in developing the WHO/Monash Fatal Injury Surveillance in Mortuaries and Hospitals – a manual for practitioners (2012).

In 2016, she was awarded the Order of Australia ‘For distinguished service to public health, particularly in the area of accident and injury prevention, to forensic medicine, and to higher education as an academic.

Professor Emeritus Raphael Grzebieta

Professor Emeritus Raphael Grzebieta (B.E. (Krakow, Hons), M.Eng.Sci. (Krakow), PhD (Monash), FIEAust, CPEng., NER (Civil), APEC (Civil), IntPE (Aus), MSAEA, MSAE, RRSP) is a forensic engineer specialising in vehicle and road infrastructure crashworthiness, injury biomechanics and road safety. Raphael is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash University located at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. He is also jointly a Professor (Em.) of Road Safety in the Transport and Road Safety (TARS) Research Centre within the School of Aviation at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney.

Prior to retiring from UNSW, Raphael spent 10 years at UNSW leading major Australian Research Council, Government and industry funded research projects on vehicle rollover crashworthiness, heavy vehicle safety, motorcycle into barrier and motorcycle safety, bicycle safety, naturalistic driving study and lately quad bike safety.

Prior to UNSW, he was in the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University for 25 years, where as an Associate Professor he headed up Civil Engineering’s road-safety, crashworthiness and rapid loading research team and supervised numerous PhD, Masters and project students.

Raphael was recently awarded by the US Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board’s AFB20 Committee on Roadside Safety Design the Ken Stonex lifetime achievement award for a long and distinguished career devoted to promoting best practices in transportation design and management to develop a “human error tolerant” roadway system.

In 2023 Raphael was awarded a Member of the Order (AM) for significant service to the transport industry through road safety research and promotion.

Assoc Professor Jennifer Schumann

Dr Schumann has over 15 years experience examining the harms associated with drugs to inform Australian public health policy and practice, with a particular focus on addiction, misuse and overdose of pharmaceutical and illicit substances. She utilises her experience in Forensic Toxicology and Public Health to draw information from clinical and forensic data sources, providing translational research pertinent to current Australian trends in drug use.

Jennifer has received grants and awards in recognition of her research, including a prestigious 2019 Churchill Fellowship. In 2014, she was a visiting postdoctoral researcher at the Karolinska Institute and National Board of Forensic Medicine, Sweden, and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Paris, supported by a 2013 Victoria Fellowship and a 2013 Australian French Association for Science and Technology Fellowship.

Jennifer is a Chief Investigator on the Emerging Drugs Network of Australia – Victoria (EDNAV), a toxicosurveillance project involving Victorian Emergency Departments informing the national Early Warning System for emerging drugs. She is Vice President of the Forensic and Clinical Toxicology Association (FACTA), Editor of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) Bulletin, and reviewer for some of the top ranked journals in substance abuse and legal medicine. She has published extensively in the peer-reviewed literature and has a strong record of collaboration with clinical and forensic researchers.

Her research has stimulated public debate, engaged media and been directly responsible for changes in Australian policy and practice, including the rescheduling of codeine-containing medicines and the introduction of jurisdictional legislation for one-punch assaults.

Adjunct Professor Soren Blau

Soren Blau is the Manager of Identification Services and Senior Forensic Anthropologist at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM). Having completed a PhD at the University of Sydney, Soren took up a lectureship position in Forensic & Biological Anthropology and Forensic Archaeology at Bournemouth University, UK. She subsequently returned to Australia to commence a post-doctoral fellowship at Flinders University, South Australia, and in 2005 joined the VIFM. Soren has participated in the recovery and analysis of human remains from archaeological and forensic contexts in in Australia and overseas for the last 20 years and has undertaken consultancies for the International Criminal Court (ICC), Justice Rapid Response (JRR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Soren is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash University, and Founding Fellow Faculty of Science, The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA).

Soren was the Chair of the Forensic Anthropology Technical Advisory Group for the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (NIFS) (2019-2023) and is the current Chair of the INTERPOL Disaster Victim Identification Pathology and Anthropology Sub-Working Group. In addition to publishing in peer-reviewed journals, Soren co-edited the Handbook of Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology (2009; 2016) and co-authored An Atlas of Skeletal Trauma in Medico-Legal (2018). She is the recipient of several awards and fellowships including a Churchill Fellowship (2013); Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences Research Fellowship (2014); National Institute of Forensic Sciences (NIFS) research Award (2019) and a Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation (veski) “inspiring women STEM sidebyside” program (2020). In 2021, I was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant services to forensic medicine and to scientific organisations.

Dr Samantha Rowbotham

Dr Samantha Rowbotham is the Acting Service Lead, Human Identification Service and Head Forensic Anthropologist with the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. She also holds an Adjunct Research Fellow appointment with the Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University and is a Forensic Anthropology Trainee with the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (Faculty of Science). Samantha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology and History from the University of Queensland (2010); a Master of Archaeological Science (Research, First Class Honours) from the Australian National University (2012), and a Doctor of Philosophy in Forensic Medicine from Monash University (2018).

She was a recipient of a VESKI Victoria Fellowship (2017), the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences ‘Oscar Rivers Schmalzbach’ Research Fellowship (2019), a Churchill Fellowship (2020) and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia ‘Education Outreach’ award (2022). Samantha’s research interests primarily lie in strengthening the evidence base for the analysis and interpretation of skeletal trauma in medico-legal contexts.

Dr Reena Sarkar

Dr Reena Sarkar is a Post Doc Research Fellow in the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash University. An oral pathologist and dentist with prior 12 years of academic experience in India, she completed her PhD on orofacial injuries patterns in Victoria, Australia, in 2021 using a novel forensic and epidemiologic lens. Her methods included systematic and legal reviews, advanced imaging, population studies, and trend analysis.

Reena’s Post Doc is in two core areas: one-punch assaults and mixed methods research on gendered killings.

These projects include the perpetrator and survivor characteristics and cost of one-punch assaults, multi-national analyses of skeletal injuries, and developing cross-disciplinary methods in femicide prevention. Reena is certified in NVivo, and Abbreviated Injury Scoring, and trained in epidemiology of health disparity measurement, and child and maternal health.

Dr Janet Davey

Dr Janet Davey is an internationally respected Forensic Egyptologist in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University and is based at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Janet’s research interests include the multi-disciplinary use of modern medical and scientific methods to investigate ancient Egyptian mummified bodies. This includes the use of advanced medical imaging techniques that allow non-destructive, non-invasive methods to study the ancient bodies to determine sex, age and possible cause of death.

Janet is a former teacher who holds a Master of Science in Biomedical and Forensic Studies in Egyptology from the University of Manchester (UK) and a PhD in Forensic Egyptology from Monash University.

Associate Professor Bebe Loff

Associate Professor Bebe Loff is Director of the Michael Kirby Centre for Public Health and Human Rights at Monash University. She is also the research head of the Global Research Initiative on Forensic Medicine and Human Rights.

Prior to joining Monash University, she was responsible for the legislative programs of Ministers of Health in Victoria. She has worked in various capacities for a number of United Nations agencies including the World Health Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNAIDS.

She has been a member of several ethical review committees including that of the World Health Organization, the Australian Health Ethics Committee (a principal committee of the NHMRC). In addition, she was for a time, an Australian correspondent for The Lancet and a regular human rights commentator.

Research Collaborations

Professor Chris Bain, Department of Human Centred Computing, Monash University
https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/chris-bain

Dr Yasmeen George, Lecturer, Department if Data Science and AI
https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/yasmeen-george

Research Support

Kathryn Rough – Librarian

Ceril Pereira – Volunteer Librarian

Adele Oyarzun – Research Assistant

Department of Forensic Medicine – Postgraduate Students

The Institute supports several postgraduate research students who are enrolled through the Monash University Department of Forensic Medicine. Their research covers diverse projects including drug harm and forensic toxicology, sexual violence and investigation, forensic anthropology, fatal injury surveillance in developing countries, and the development of new medical imaging analysis tools.