Prof. Lutz Roewer, Ph.D., Professor for Forensic Genetics
Dept. Forensic Genetics, Labor Berlin – Charité Vivantes GmbH, Germany
This is a summary of the curriculum vitae (CV) of Prof. Lutz Roewer, Professor for Forensic Genetics, currently employed at the Dept. Forensic Genetics, Labor Berlin – Charité Vivantes GmbH, Germany.
Professor Roewer is a forensic geneticist. Forensic genetics concerns the scientific analysis of genetic material to aid in legal matters, such as identification of victims and criminals, and Professor Roewer is not only a researcher but also works as a technical expert in court cases (crime case investigations, identification of victims).
Professor Roewer has been named an “Y-STR analysis Rockstar” in a 2020 interview. Y-STR stands for Y-Short Tandem Repeat, the Y representing the Y chromosome and the tandem repeats referring to loci with repeats of simple sequences of which the number differs between individuals. STR analysis for loci on the Y chromosome is more straightforward in sexual assault cases because unlike autosomes (non-sex chromosomes) it exists only in males and can identify one or more male perpetrators. Professor Roewer has been one of the founding fathers of this type of analysis by finding the first STR on an Y chromosome (Roewer et al. 1992).
Professor Roewer, along with Sascha Willuweit also organizes and manages the Y Chromosome Haplotype Reference Database (YHRD). It has become the international reference database in its field, after having been launched in 1999 as emerging from a series of workshops that Professor Roewer had co-organized on the topic.
After his study in Biochemistry, in 1987, Professor Roewer joined the Institute of Legal Medicine in Berlin which is a very famous institute, and has remained there ever since. In 1987, DNA techniques like DNA fingerprinting and polymerase chain reaction had just been established, and it was a new exciting era in forensic genetics.
Interestingly, Prof. Roewer has a connection to Japan, as he has been a guest researcher at Kitasato University in Tokyo-Sagamihara in Japan. His institute and Charité (the home of Robert Koch) traditionally had close connections to Japan, especially to this university called after Shibasaburo Kitasato. Scientists of his institute regularly visited Kitasato Uni as guest researchers, in his case Sept.-Dec 1989. He brought the STR fragment analysis to Japan and did al lot of evaluative studies, e.g. on Egyptian mummies which he brought form East Berlin (from the Pergamon museum).
Professor Roewer has won several awards in his field, and written >120 scientific articles that generated >11,000 citations. He also wrote book chapters, and is member of the editorial board of the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics.
Professor Roewer describes his fields of expertise as:
- Criminal and missing person investigation
- Paternity and kinship testing
- Population genetics and human evolutionary anthropology
It is a great pleasure and honor that Professor Roewer will give us a presentation at Fujita Health University.
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION & EMPLOYMENT
1982-1987 M.S. in Biochemistry, University of Leipzig, Germany
1987-2023 Research fellow and lecturer at the Institute of Legal Medicine at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
1989 Guest Researcher of the Kitasato University, School of Hygienic Sciences, Faculty of Bioscience, Japan
1990 Ph.D. at the Humboldt University Berlin, Thesis „Characterization and application of simple repetitive oligonucleotide sequences in forensic medicine”
1990 – 1991 Guest Researcher at the Max-Planck-Institute Martinsried, Germany, for Neuroimmunology, participation in the project „Y chromosomal genes“ supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
2000 Habilitation (venia legendi), Thesis „Haplotyping of the human Y-chromosome – foundation and applications of a new molecular genetic identification method“
2008-2023 Appointment as University Professor for Forensic Genetics at the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
2023-current Professor for Forensic Genetics, Dept. Forensic Genetics, Labor Berlin – Charité Vivantes GmbH
Awards
1990 Biennial Award of the German Society of Legal Medicine (DGRM) for the work on forensic application of DNA polymorphisms
1998 Biennial Award of the German Society of Legal Medicine (DGRM) for the work on the forensic application of Y-chromosomal DNA polymorphisms (together with Peter de Knijff and Manfred Kayser)
1999 The Biennial Scientific Prize for outstanding contributions of the International Society of Forensic Genetics (ISFG) for work relating to Y chromosome polymorphisms
Relevant publications (selected)
