Moses Samuel Schanfield Obituary (1944 - 2021)

MOSES SAMUEL SCHANFIELD On Thursday, January 7, 2021, MOSES SAMUEL SCHANFIELD, Ph.D., of Silver Spring, MD. Beloved father of Samantha Bergren and Rabbi Amanda (Jason) Schwartz. Loving grandfather of Johanna and Judah Schwartz. Dear brother of Miriam (Mark) Kieffer and David (Kathryn Frommer) Schanfield. Cherished uncle of Abby Schanfield and Adam Kieffer. Moses represented the professional balance of a scientist, educator, public servant, and businessman. He had many passions, including forensic science, human genetics, molecular human anthropology, and playing the guitar. Moses studied anthropology at Harvard University and received his doctorate from the University of Michigan. He was a professor of forensic science at The George Washington University, teaching classes in population genetics, human genetic variation, and forensic molecular biology. During his service at The George Washington University, Moses was department chair and served on numerous university committees, working passionately until his very last day. Moses had an extensive career that started in the early 1970s and included directing the Monroe County Public Safety Laboratory (Rochester, NY) and founding and directing Analytical Genetic Testing Center (AGTC), Inc. (Denver, CO) - a private forensic laboratory that was on the forefront of developing DNA technology for forensic science. He was a pioneer in immunology, with his expertise in allotyping, and he was one of the first people to introduce DNA into the parentage community. His laboratory helped develop the first National Institute of Standards and Technology's standard for Forensic DNA testing. Moses received a Gold Medal at the First Latin American Congress of Hemotherapy and Immunohematology for the discovery of the role of immunoglobulin subclass in the severity of RH (D) hemolytic disease of the newborn. He co-discovered that HIV originated in Africa and that DNA migration shifting can be corrected by using an in-lane size ladder - the current standard for all forensic DNA testing processes. Moses was also noted for his extensive work on the identification of victims of human rights violations in the Balkans. Moses authored and edited three books, more than 100 peer reviewed articles, and 45 book and encyclopedia chapters on topics including forensic DNA testing, paternity testing, anthropological genetic studies, the genetics of the immune response, and the genetic basis of disease susceptibility. Furthermore, he testified as an expert witness more than 115 times in state courts, federal court, military courts, as well as in Barbados, Canada, and Puerto Rico on forensic parentage testing, population genetics, forensic testing, DNA and non-DNA forensic evidence, and firearms. As an expert witness, he could disagree without being disagreeable. Moses is the recipient of the 2021 Paul Kirk award, the most prestigious award issued by the Criminalistics Section of the American Academy of Forensic Science, which he was meant to receive in February of this year. Zoom Funeral TUESDAY, January 12, 2021, 11:00am and zoom shiva, Tues., Wed., Thurs., Sat., and Sun. at 7:00pm. Email zoom3@hodroffepstein.com for the links. Donations can be made in Moses's memory to The Forensic Sciences Foundation.