Ewelina Mistek is a forensic scientist and PhD student in the University at Albany's Department of Chemistry. She is researching a radiation detection technique known as Raman Spectroscopy that could help crime scene investigators collect and preserve trace evidence. Mistek's mentor is Igor Lednev, a chemistry professor.
Ewelina Mistek is a forensic scientist and PhD student in the University at Albany's Department of Chemistry. She is researching a radiation detection technique known as Raman Spectroscopy that could help crime scene investigators collect and preserve trace evidence. Mistek's mentor is Igor Lednev, a chemistry professor.
The UAlbany News Podcast is hosted and produced by Sarah O'Carroll, a Communications Specialist at the University at Albany, State University of New York, with production assistance by Patrick Dodson and Scott Freedman.
Have a comment or question about one of our episodes? You can email us at mediarelations@albany.edu, and you can find us on Twitter @UAlbanyNews.
Sarah O'Carroll:
Welcome to the UAlbany news podcast. I'm your host Sarah O'Carol with me today is Ewelina Mistek, a forensic scientist and PhD student in the University of Albany's department of chemistry. She's researching a radiation detection techniques known as Raman spectroscopy that could help CSIs collect and preserve trace evidence.
Newscast:
Homicide investigators were at work until four o'clock this morning trying to figure out what led to the victim's death. Here behind me, we can still see a large pool of blood that is leftover evidence from that crime scene.
Newscast:
You can see behind me here in the predawn blackness, a very active crime scene. Police combing through the suspect's car, hair, blood, prints, shoes, clothes. Where is the evidence?
Sarah O'Carroll:
Ewelina, maybe we could begin with a layman's definition of Raman spectroscopy and something about how practically it works.
Ewelina Mistek:
Sure. So actually we are working with different vibrational spectroscopic techniques, so that's Raman spectroscopy as well as attenuated to thorough reflection, transforming fried spectroscopy, known also as ATR FTIR spectroscopy and those techniques actually apply light, more specific photons of light in order to vibrate the molecules that are within the materials and the gift of very unique characterization of the sample based on the chemical and biochemical composition of the material that it's been analyzed.
Sarah O'Carroll:
So is it essentially looking at the vibrations within a sample and analyzing that or how else would you describe the process?
Ewelina Mistek:
So yes, it's actually based on the vibration that the energy of the photon gave to the molecule and then those libration can be visible in the spectrum that is created as a result of the analysis.
Sarah O'Carroll:
So how can this be used in the context of solving and prosecuting crimes?
Ewelina Mistek:
So since vibrational spectroscopic techniques give very specific and very unique signature of each individual sample, there's no two samples that will give the same signature, the same spectrum. That's why once we have different samples to be analyzed, we actually get different spectrum, different signatures of those samples. Which are very specific and they are the signatures of the specific samples.
Sarah O'Carroll:
So it's almost like ... sounds like a fingerprint is and everyone's is different.
Ewelina Mistek:
Yes, exactly. That's basically it.
Sarah O'Carroll:
So you describe in your study the array of samples that can be analyzed with Raman spectroscopy. You mentioned substances like nail polish, it can be hair or blood or drugs. So how is it that this technique works on so many different types of trace evidence?
Ewelina Mistek:
So since this technique is very specific due to the unique spectrum would just create it based on the chemical or biochemical composition of the sample. The signatures will be very unique.
Ewelina Mistek:
And let me just give you examples since the advantages of this technique, especially the ATO FTR spectroscopy has been already discovered for the forensic applications. And that technique has been already used for several type of analysis types.
Ewelina Mistek:
For example, for controlled substances as well as fibers and paint analysis. So the idea is that ... maybe let me tell you the example. When we have controlled substance and there was a questioned powder on the crime scene and this substance can be analyzed and it's going to have different signature than anything else. Let's say if that could have been flour. That's way we can simply distinguish between different substances.
Ewelina Mistek:
Also for paint analysis, if let's say there was a hidden and it's an incident and we have a sample that paint chip that has been collected from the crime scene, its chemical composition can be checked and it can be compared to the chemical composition of the paint chip that was taken from the suspect car and then the chemical composition can be then compared and we can see whether or not the two paint chips could have had the same origin.
Sarah O'Carroll:
And so is this all that is done on the lab or is any of this can just be analyzed onsite?
Ewelina Mistek:
So that actually the ultimate goal. I believe for now there's mostly everything done in the lab but there are already portable or even handheld instruments. So devices as big as your cell phone that can be brought to the crime scene. And that is actually great advantage because the actual analysis is really quick, is the matter of seconds to obtain the spectrum.
Ewelina Mistek:
That's why having the device that can be sensitive enough and and kind analysis that could be performed at a crime scene would be very beneficial and would save time. As well as also could determine what type of evidence should be actually collected from the crimes scene for further analysis. So that would definitely save money as well for forensic investigators.
Sarah O'Carroll:
Would you go into what your colleagues are working on in the lab as far as analyzing bodily fluids?
Ewelina Mistek:
So in [Dr. Lednev's 00:05:40] research lab, we are actually working to develop the technique for identification and analysis of body fluids for forensic purposes. And the goal is actually to develop the technique that would be non distracted as sample that would be rapid, that would be universal for all of them and could actually be performed on scene with statistical confidence.
Ewelina Mistek:
That is very important and it is actually very important that in our laboratory we actually stay in close collaboration with New York state police in order to get advice and discuss all problems. And in our research we actually tried to address all needs police or our forensic investigators could have at this moment. That's why we are actually working. We are trying to address everything they might have need and they might find beneficial for future forensic research, forensic applications at a crime scene.
Sarah O'Carroll:
Oh, that's pretty amazing that's so much information can be garnered just from a tiny speck of a sample that's found on a crime scene.
Sarah O'Carroll:
Well, this is such a specialized field. I'm interested to know how you first got interested in it and what led you to the particular research project you're on right now.
Ewelina Mistek:
So I was always interested in forensic forensic work and forensic research and I always wanted to work in forensic lab since it seems to be more interesting than any lab work. And when I had a chance to pick a place for my internship during the undergraduate program, I decided to do it in forensics. And my desire was to actually come all the way to United States to do it in order to get the best possible education. So I came all the way from Poland to perform my research in the United States and I found Dr Lednev's research lab as a perfect place for me, especially that there's so much that I can learn about kind forensic practices as well as actually work on new development of different applications, of different methods for forensic analysis.
Ewelina Mistek:
So I found all the research really fascinating. And when I was undergraduate student, I was already working on projects similar to those that PhD students were working on. And I published papers as the undergraduate student as a first author. So that was very challenging, but it gave me huge experience and I learned a lot from that. So later on it was really easy decision for me to make and choose the university. So I came back to Dr. Lednev's research lab for my PhD program and now I continue working on similar projects.
Ewelina Mistek:
I continue developing new techniques for forensic applications and it's really fascinating how actually this work is important for real application. So in our laboratory with [inaudible 00:08:39], NIJ, nationalized of justice graduate research fellowship. So far, it's been three students receiving those fellowships for the last couple of years. And I would just want to mention that there's only about 20 fellowships that are given every year through entire United States.
Sarah O'Carroll:
And you guys have three of them.
Ewelina Mistek:
So it's been already three given for the last few years, including myself. So it shows how important the research and the work that has been done in our lab, is actually use for a forensic community.
Sarah O'Carroll:
Cool. And it's neat to hear about you collaborating with the New York state police as well. That must be assuring that you're working on the problems that matter and really fitting their needs of, what they need to know when they get to a crime scene.
Ewelina Mistek:
Yes, that's right. And it's really fascinating and it's exciting that we actually can feel what they need and we can address that and work on it more and develop something new that could actually potentially be used in near future.
Sarah O'Carroll:
Very cool. Well, can you share any moments or epiphanies that perhaps surprised you when conducting this research? And can you share any of your projects most important or significant findings?
Ewelina Mistek:
So as I mentioned, I've been kind of faced lot of challenges and especially when I started in Professor Lednev's research lab as an undergraduate student. But then because of all kindness and help from other coworkers side, I was able to perform everything. And the publications that I've done that I finished studies for were a great testimony about how actually important the research is and that we are doing a great job in development of something new, something important.
Ewelina Mistek:
So I think that those moments were really significant for my research and as well as all awards and all presentation I can give on national or even international conferences and symposia. So that show us the interest of people and the interest of audience on a really wide range that I was able to actually present to them.
Sarah O'Carroll:
Absolutely. So what's next for the field and more specifically, what are next steps for you as a researcher?
Ewelina Mistek:
So I'm actually going to apply more of ATR FTR spectroscopy with chemo metrics for the analysis of body fluids. So I'm trying to actually critically compare the two techniques right now because we've done a lot of work on Raman spectroscopy and we've proven that actually if it can help and it's very beneficial for a forensic applications.
Ewelina Mistek:
And now I just wanna compare that technique with the other technique that we have in the lab with ATR FTR spectroscopy. So I'm planning to actually continue the research on identification of body fluids, the species identification based on the bloodstain as well as narrow down the information about the human. So the human phenotype profiling. As the ultimate goal is actually to bring the analysis to the crime scene. So there's a little more to do for that, especially that we need to test the portable instruments.
Ewelina Mistek:
So all those instruments that are handheld and check through sensitivity and evaluate their performance on the samples that would be present at the crime scene. And also it's very important to be able to perform the analysis in CDO, meaning that actually we would not have to pick the sample. The sample will be placed at is was deposited at a crime scene, so that would be very beneficial because that could definitely save time as well as save the actually the sample for other testing if it's needed.
Sarah O'Carroll:
And from what I understand that's a big problem where when you analyze the sample then it's kind of rendered useless after that or it's destroyed, but you're working on finding a way where the sample could not be destroyed and that you could find more information from it.
Ewelina Mistek:
Yes, exactly. So since we cannot get exactly all information about the donor, sometimes the DNA analysis would be the most beneficial as we know, especially if we can find the in the database DNA databases.
Ewelina Mistek:
That's why we can get a lot of information, but we cannot show the exact person using our technology yet. That's where it's very important to have the technique for gathering information that would be non-destructive in order to have the same sample being subjected, let's say for DNA profiling.
Sarah O'Carroll:
And why is it so that often techniques destroy the sample? I mean why? What is special about Raman spectroscopy that is able to analyze without destroying?
Ewelina Mistek:
So most of the techniques that are currently used for forensic applications for body fluids identification analysis actually rely on the application of different chemicals in order to initiate the reaction. So that means that they have to apply some chemicals or other reagents onto sample and then they target specific components of this sample. And then they can get information whether or not that's the stain, the biological stain that they are looking for.
Ewelina Mistek:
The other problem is that each of those tests are specific for one body fluid, so there's no universal method and so all that together gives some limitations for farther use of the sample. So that's why Raman spectroscopy as actually doesn't destroy the sample because it only uses the light to touch the sample and get information about the chemical composition from inside of it.
Ewelina Mistek:
It's very beneficial. So we can get information, we can identify the body fluid, but we still can use it for other testing.
Sarah O'Carroll:
Wow. So this research is part of your PhD program. So when do you hope to finish and what's next after graduation for Ewelina Mistek?
Ewelina Mistek:
So I'm hoping to finish within the next three years. We'll see how it goes. And I still didn't think too much about farther, farther career for myself. I was thinking of going back to Poland and maybe working over there, developing some new forensic applications for my home country, but maybe I will stay here if there is some possibilities, some new challenges for myself. So still didn't make a plan.
Sarah O'Carroll:
Ewelina thank you so much for sharing your research.
Ewelina Mistek:
Thank you very much.
Newscast:
Thank you for listening to the UAlbany news podcast. I'm your host Sarah O'Carol. And that was Ewelina Mistek, a forensic scientist and PHC student at the University of Albany's department of chemistry. You can let us know what you thought of the episode and by emailing us mediarelations@albany.edu and you can find us on Twitter at Ualbany News.