IFG – Institut für forensische Genetik Münster, Prof. Dr. Bernd Brinkmann

Management

The Institute for Forensic Genetics [IFG] is one of the leading molecular-genetic testing laboratories in Germany, and was originates from the working group for forensic genetics at the University of Münster. The company’s founder and managing director, Prof. Dr. Bernd Brinkmann, is an internationally renowned scientist and expert in the field of forensic medicine. At present, the IFG has a team of about 15 employees, made up of highly-regarded scientists and technical assistants in its laboratories, as well as experienced administrators.

Prof. Dr. Bernd Brinkmann

Bernd Brinkmann studied Law and Medicine in Hamburg and was made a professor of forensic medicine in 1972. From 1981 until July 2007, he was the director of the Institute of Legal Medicine at the Westphalian Wilhelms-University in Münster. From 1990 until the end of 2009, he was the coordinating editor for the forensic medicine section of the leading international publication the Journal of Legal Medicine. In 1998, he received an honorary doctorate from Semmelweis University of Medicine in Budapest (Hungary), and was awarded the same honour by the University of Coimbra (Portugal). In 1991, Bernd Brinkmann was elected as a member of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina (Halle) and was president of the German Society of Forensic Medicine (1995-2001), the International Academy of Legal Medicine (1994-2000) and the International Society of Forensic Genetics (1990-1994). Until the end of 2010, Bernd Brinkmann was the chairman of the Stain Commission, which directs the GEDNAP (German DNA Profiling Group) inter-laboratory tests for quality assurance in the fields of forensics and forensic molecular-genetics. He also played a significant part in the establishment of national and international standards in post-mortem examinations and dissection, and remains active in their development.
The focus of his research was on the analysis of blood traces, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the histomorphology of drowning, and proof of suffocation. Among other things, Bernd Brinkmann is a member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Abstammungsbegutachtung (federal association of parentage appraisers).

Further members of the IFG team are amongst others:

Dr. Carsten Hohoff

Carsten Hohoff studied chemistry with a focus on biochemistry at Dortmund and Münster. From 1999 to 2007, he was a member of Prof. Brinkmann’s working group at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Münster. He has worked at the IFG since 2007. Dr. Hohoff is the technical director of the GEDNAP inter-laboratory tests and a member of the Stain Commission and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Abstammungsbegutachtung (federal association of parentage appraisers).

Dr. Miriam Meyer

Miriam Meyer (née Müller) studied biology at Stuttgart and Münster. She worked as a scientific officer of Prof. Brinkmann’s working group at the Institute of Legal Medicine at the Westphalian Wilhelms-University in Münster, where she also completed her doctoral thesis. Since 2007, Dr. Meyer has worked for the IFG, specialising, among other things, in internal quality management and the creation of forensic reports.