Tal Simmons was asked to assist at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine (Abu Kabir) in the identification process for the victims of the Hamas attack on 7 October. She will share information about the workflow and some of the challenges (and successes) the staff encountered.
Some of the images shown may be disturbing.

About Tal Simmons:

Prior to arriving at VCU in January 2015, Simmons was the course Leader for the MSc Forensic Anthropology in the School of Forensic and Investigative Sciences at the University of Central Lancashire (2004-2014) and held the post of Reader in Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology. She was a senior lecturer and course leader for the MSc Forensic and Biological Anthropology at Bournemouth University and taught in the Anthropology Department of Western Michigan University. Previously, she held a postdoctoral fellowship and lectureship in the Cell, Molecular and Structural Biology Department at Northwestern University Medical and Dental Schools.  She has held various fellowships at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the Institute for Advanced Studies, The Department of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, and in the Institute of Archaeology.

While on leave from her full time academic appointments, Simmons worked in the field for the non-government organization Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) as director of the Forensic Monitoring Project in Tuzla, Bosnia. She also served as the senior forensic consultant for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Pristina and Orahovac, Kosovo.  She worked as the laboratory director for PHR’s Cyprus Project.  She has consulted for various organizations, such as Amnesty International, Forensic Architecture, B’Tzelem, and Yazda,

At VCU, Simmons is helping to direct the skeletal and DNA analysis concerning the East Marshall Street Well Project according to guidelines agreed by the Family Representative Council. Simmons is currently a forensic anthropology consultant, undertaking casework for the OCME in the Central, Tidewater and Northern districts of Virginia. She has provided expert testimony in courts in both the U.S. and the U.K. and provided independent expert testimony to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights concerning the massacres at El Mozote, El Salvador.  She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is accredited as a Chartered Forensic Anthropologist in the U.K.  

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