Governor Abbott Reappoints Four To Texas Forensic Science Commission
Governor Greg Abbott has reappointed Patrick Buzzini, Ph.D., Bruce Budowle, Ph.D., Nancy Downing, Ph.D., and Jasmine Drake, Ph.D. to the Texas Forensic Science Commission for terms set to expire on September 1, 2022. The commission provides oversight over Texas crime laboratories and other entities conducting forensic analyses for use in criminal proceedings and provides an accreditation mandate responsible for establishing procedures, policies, and practices to improve the quality of forensic analyses conducted in Texas.
Patrick Buzzini, Ph.D. of Spring is an Associate Professor in forensic science at Sam Houston State University. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, where he has served as the 2019-2020 criminalistics section chair. He is a member of the Organization of Scientific Areas Committees (OSAC) for standards development in forensic science, and serves in the education committee of the American Society of Trace Evidence Examiners. Buzzini received a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy in Forensic Science from the School of Criminal Sciences at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.
Bruce Budowle, Ph.D. of North Richland Hills is Director of the Center for Human Identification and Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Genetics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Previously, he served as a senior scientist at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Quantico, VA and is a member of the International Society of Forensic Genetics. Budowle received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from King College and a Doctor of Philosophy in Genetics from Virginia Tech.
Nancy Downing, Ph.D. of Bryan is an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University College of Nursing and a forensic nurse at Baylor, Scott & White Hospital in College Station. She will serve as president of the International Association of Forensic Nurses in 2021, and was inducted in 2019 as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. Downing received a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the University of Iowa, and a Master's Certificate in Forensic Nursing from the University of Colorado and Master's Certificate in Molecular Genetics from Georgetown University
Jasmine Drake, Ph.D. of Houston is an Associate Professor and Laboratory Coordinator in the Forensic Science Learning Laboratory in the Department of Administration of Justice in the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. Previously, she served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forensic Science in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. Additionally, she served as a forensic chemist at the Drug Enforcement Administration South Central Laboratory in Dallas and as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Neutron Research in Gaithersburg, MD. She is currently a Criminalistics section member for the American Academy of Forensic Science. Drake received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, LA and a Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry from Louisiana State University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, LA.