Led by Professor Ozane Smith, the unintentional injury prevention unit focuses on consumer product safety and injury prevention in low and middle income countries. This research unit has contributed to the World Health Organisation initiatives, such as the Global Report of Drowning.

• Ladder injury – Ladder Falls Prevention; a resource for home ladder users.
• Cigarette-related fatal fires – evaluating the effectiveness of the Australian mandatory standard for reduced fire risk cigarettes in decreasing fatal fires.
• Drowning prevention – focusing on potential for synergy between safe drinking water programs and drowning prevention. Formed part of a WHO report and international conference.
• Deaths in custody – examination of indigenous deaths in custody and within 12 months of release. Collaboration with Griffith University.

The Forensic Anthropology Research Unit is made up of forensic anthropology and archaeology practitioners Professor Soren Blau (Manager, Human Identification and Senior  Forensic Anthropologist), Dr Samantha Rowbotham (Forensic Anthropologist) and Mr Jon Sterenberg (Forensic Archaeologist) who also undertake and supervise research that aims to address questions that have arisen during casework. This research includes aspects of Search and Recovery, the Analysis and Interpretation of Skeletal Trauma, Evidence in Court, and Human Identification. Within these areas members of the Unit actively publish in peer-reviewed forensic medical and science journals, and supervise honours and postgraduate students from Monash and external Universities.

The Forensic Anthropology Research Unit areas of research (including select projects) comprise:

Search and Recovery

This research is focused on improving our understanding about the effects of decomposition on the environment and how these changes impact the detection of single and mass graves. This research is undertaken at the Australian Facility for Taphonomic and Experimental Research (AFTER).

• Detecting single and mass graves: a southern hemisphere perspective (Partial funding provided by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Humanitarian and Human Rights Resource Centre)

Analysis and Interpretation of Skeletal Trauma

This research is focused on strengthening the evidence base for the analysis and interpretation of skeletal trauma in medico-legal contexts. The majority of this research is undertaken retrospectively using the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM)’s database of >70,000 full-body post-mortem computer tomography (PMCT) scans with associated coronial documentation.

• The distribution and morphology of fractures resulting from fatal falls (Funded by Monash University)
• Differentiating unintentional short falls from non-accidental injury in children (Funded by the Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation 2017 Fellowship)
• Rib fractures resulting from cardiopulmonary resuscitation in infants
• Skull fractures resulting from blunt force trauma (Funded by the Australian Academy of Forensic Science 2018 Fellowship)
• Quantification and interpretation of the “degree of force” (Funded by Monash University)

Evidence in Court

This research focuses on investigating which format of presenting forensic medical evidence in court provides lay people (i.e., jurors) with the most accurate and least confronting understanding of the evidence. This research is undertaken in collaboration with Jurors Victoria.

• Improving Jurors’ understanding of complex forensic medical evidence in court (Funded by the National Institute of Forensic Sciences)

Human Identification

This research is focused on providing improved methods to assist with the identification of deceased individuals. This research is facilitated through use of a combination of resources including the AFTER facility, the VIFM’s PMCT database and the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) database.

• Bomb pulse dating in the Southern hemisphere (Funded by Monash University)
• Efficacy of the human identification service at the VIFM
• Validity of ‘age-at-death’ estimation methods in juvenile and adult remains
• Human decomposition in aquatic environments
• Standardised recording of skeletal completeness for whole and fragmentary remains

Led by forensic toxicologist, Dr Jennifer Pilgrim, the drug intelligence research unit specialises in the investigation of the harmful outcomes of licit and illicit drug use on the community. Utilising a multidisciplinary approach combining forensic toxicology, public health and injury epidemiology has led directly to changes in Australian public health policy. The unit continues to be a research leader in this field with a focus on death prevention and safer drug use.

• Family violence – development of a clinical forensic medicine family violence database.
• Prescription drug misuse – examination of the nature and extent of this issue.
• Opioid addiction and harms – investigation of the harms related to all forms of opioids.
• Alcohol related suicide –research into preventative pharmacotherapy for alcohol related suicide, collaboration with the University of Sydney.
• Drug-caused death in vulnerable populations – focusing on Australian sub-populations that demonstrate vulnerability to drug misuse and toxic fatality.
• Drug facilitated sexual assault and violent offending – examination of the bio-psychosocial factors of drug-facilitated sexual assault and violent offending.
• The Toxicologist database – multinational collaboration with Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, developing the world’s first international reference for toxic concentrations of drugs.
• The global health challenge of drug misuse and abuse – a global study examining issues related to drug misuse, including drug policy, drug education, detection and awareness.

The Violence Investigation, Research and Training Unit (VIRTU) comprises co-leadership by our clinical and research staff, Dr Maaike Moller, Clinical Forensic Medicine and Associate Professor Lyndal Bugeja, Department of Forensic Medicine. Associate Professor Richard Bassed is the sponsor of the unit and a research contributor.

The purpose of VIRTU is to conduct research and training activities that enhance the medico-legal investigation of self-directed and interpersonal violence. By optimising the medico-legal investigation of violence it is intended that public health and legal outcomes can be improved.

VIRTU was established in 2018 with the initial projects including:

• Training for Victoria Police’s Centre for Family Violence – Foundation Program.
• Development of an enhanced family violence dataset for clinical forensic assessments of abuse, sexual assault and fitness for interview.
• Research on the risk profiles for victims and perpetrators of family violence examined by Clinical Forensic Physicians.
• Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) grant to support research into breaking patterns of violence to prevent family homicide. This project aims to quantify the relationship and interdependencies between risk factors and service utilisation among family homicide victims and offenders. These will be identified from an analysis of criminal justice and Coroners’ data on family homicide using Bayesian networks. This innovative approach will produce a model to predict the probability of a lethal outcome, and enable resources to be targeted for interventions to parties identified as high risk prior to escalation that could lead to death.

The International Centre for Geriatric Forensic Medicine and Nursing is a world leader in empirical and translational research, education and public policy in all the medico-legal aspects of ageing. The Centre’s human resource capacity includes recognised experts from Victoria, nationally throughout Australia and internationally from USA, Canada, UK, NZ and other countries in the fields of aged care, health law and public policy.

Our purpose is to develop and conduct research, education, training and clinical engagement, and to promote policy reforms that protects the rights and choices of older people, as well as addressing elder abuse and preventable harm from injury including health care.

The centre is committed to serving the public interest nationally and internationally by promoting and integrating the fields of health, aged care, medicine, law and forensic science into practice. The Centre is led by Professor Joseph Ibrahim, with clinical and operational expertise from Dr David Ranson and Dr Nicola Cunningham.

The Health Law and Ageing Research Unit is a multi-disciplinary team with expertise in public health, forensic investigation, health care, aged care and law. The unit is headed by Professor Joseph Ibrahim with assistance from Associate Professor Lyndal Bugeja.

The unit is focused on delivering a reduction of injury and premature deaths, the promotion of respect for older persons’ choices, and developing the workforce providing aged care services.

Research in this area uses existing information from medico-legal death investigations of older people, and applies the results to identify opportunities for improvement, and to inform changes and optimal practice through the development of new resources, policies, procedures and protocols for aged care and health professionals.

Specific research projects of this unit include:

• Preventable deaths in aged care research – examines the nature and extent of injury-related deaths amongst residents of Residential Aged Care Services (nursing homes) in Australia 2000-2013. This project involves analysis of deaths from choking on food, complications of clinical care, asphyxia due to physical restraints and suicide. There are seven separate studies in this project.
• Dignity of Risk research – examines an older person’s rights in decision making, especially for those with dementia. Topics being explored include limitations of clinical care and the right to take a risk that improves quality of life.
• Nature of Coroners’ recommendations following health care related deaths – the focus of this project is on developing recommendations to influence health and law practice nationally.
• Elder abuse and neglect – this project investigates sexual assault in older people and assaults in nursing homes and will be completed in collaboration with the VIFM’s Clinical Forensic Medicine service.
• Publication of educational material through the VIFM Residential Aged Care Communiqué and Clinical Communiqué.