Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has reappointed four members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, including one from North Texas, for terms set to expire on Sept. 1, 2024.

The commission provides oversight over Texas crime laboratories and other entities conducting forensic analyses for use in criminal proceedings and provides an accreditation mandate responsible for establishing procedures, policies, and practices to improve the quality of forensic analyses conducted in Texas.

The reappointed members are:

Michael Coble, PhD [Photo: UNTHSC]

Michael Coble, Ph.D. of Fort Worth is an associate professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center and the executive director of the Center for Human Identification. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the Washington Academy of Sciences and a member of International Society of Forensic Genetics. Coble received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Appalachian State University and a Master of Forensic Science in Forensic Biology and a Doctor of Philosophy in genetics from George Washington University.

At the Center for Human Identification, Coble and his team work to identify missing and unknown persons, and they conduct mitochondrial DNA testing of hair evidence related to Texas criminal investigations. According to UNTHSC, the Center has assisted in thousands of missing person investigations across the country.

Coble’s research, according to his CV, uses software to analyze and interpret DNA mixture issues. Other research focuses include using haploid marker systems in forensic testing and studying non-traditional marker systems to gather genetic information from challenged samples.

Patrick Buzzini, Ph.D. of Spring is an associate professor in Forensic Science at Sam Houston State University. He was the 2019-2020 chair of the criminalistics section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, a member of the Materials Subcommittee with the Organization of Scientific Areas Committees for standards development in forensic science, and a member of the American Society of Trace Evidence Examiners. Buzzini received a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy in Forensic Science from the School of Criminal Sciences at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

Nancy Downing, Ph.D. of Bryan is an associate professor at Texas A&M University School of Nursing and a forensic nurse at Baylor, Scott & White Hospital in College Station. She serves as vice chair of the Forensic Nursing Subcommittee for the National Institute of Standards and Technology Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science. She is former president and director-at-large on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) and member of the IAFN Research Committee. She serves on the Texas Office of the Governor Sexual Assault Survivors Task Force Campus Sexual Assault Working Group. In 2019, Downing was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, nursing’s highest honor. Downing received a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the University of Iowa and joined the Texas A&M faculty in January 2016.

Jasmine Drake, Ph.D. of Houston is an associate professor and the interim chair of the Department of Administration of Justice in the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. Previously, she served as an assistant professor at Sam Houston State University in the Department of Forensic Science in the College of Criminal Justice. Additionally, she served as a forensic chemist at the Drug Enforcement Administration’s South-Central Laboratory in Dallas, and as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. She is also a criminalistics section member for the American Academy of Forensic Science. Drake received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Southern University and a Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry from Louisiana State University.

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