CFI Research Program

The Center has a cutting-edge research program aimed at evaluating and optimizing the use of CT and MRI in the forensic setting as well as addressing broader pathology and medical issues. The CFI is currently supported by 3 research awards from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and a number of smaller awards. The Center is also involved in non-forensic clinical and translational medical research and embraces a broad spectrum of potential collaborators. We have been involved in projects with collaborators from the UNM Departments of Radiology, Pathology, Orthopedics, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Computer Science, Anthropology and the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center.

The projects at the CFI have implications for the criminal justice, public safety and public health systems. Additionally, advanced imaging modalities will potentially allow OMI forensic pathologists to be more responsive to New Mexico’s diverse cultural and religious groups, some of which have an antipathy towards autopsy. The CFI is a national leader in the evaluation and application of advanced imaging modalities and will serve as a model as these technologies are implemented in other medicolegal settings.