Robert Shaler, the forensic scientist whose DNA testing innovations helped identify Sept. 11 victims at the World Trade Center, is coming to West Virginia University on Thursday (Dec. 1).

Dr. Shalers talk is set for 7:30 p.m. in Room 458 of the College of Business and Economics, on the Downtown Campus.

Shaler directed the Forensic Biology Department of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City from 1990 until his retirement in 2005. When forensic examiners were called to Ground Zero of lower Manhattan after Sept. 11, they were able to identify victims using tests and other methods created by Shaler.

After earning a doctorate in biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University in 1968, Shaler took a teaching post at the University of Pittsburgh before signing on with jobs at the Pittsburgh Crime Laboratory and the Aerospace Corp.

He also worked for the nations first forensic DNA laboratory, the Lifecodes Corp., before joining New York Citys Chief Medical Examiners office.

Shaler is currently at Penn State, where he directs the Forensic Science Program and serves as a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology.

His visit here is part of WVU sDistinguished Visitorseries, and is hosted by the Forensic and Investigative Sciences Program in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

For more information, contact Dr. Suzanne Bell, WVU research professor of forensic and analytical chemistry, at suzanne.bell@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-3435, ext. 6436.