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About

José R. Almirall is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Director Emeritus of the International Forensic Research Institute at Florida International University and Director of the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Advanced Research in Forensic Science. He was a practicing forensic scientist at the Miami-Dade Police Department Crime Laboratory for 12 years, where he testified in over 100 criminal cases in state and federal courts prior to his academic appointment at FIU in 1998. Professor Almirall has authored one book and about 145 peer-reviewed scientific publications in the field of analytical and forensic chemistry (h-index ~ 40).

Service

Prof. Almirall serves on several national forensic science boards including as chair of the Chemistry and Instrumental Analysis scientific area committee (SAC) of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC), as a member of the governing board of the OSAC (FSSB) and as a member of the Forensic Laboratory Needs Technology Working Group (FLN-TWG). He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) since 1998, past member of the editorial board of the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Editor-in-Chief of Forensic Chemistry, an Elsevier journal. 

Prof. Almirall has also served as a consultant to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Government of Spain, the U.S. Government and has served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Commonwealth of Virginia for 10 years. He currently serves as consultant to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the forensic analysis of materials, as a judge for DHS on a national opioid detection challenge and served as chair of the Fire Scene Investigation working group of the AAAS.

He is also interested in commercializing technology developed in his laboratory and has started Air Chemistry Inc. for this purpose.

Awards

Dr. Almirall is the 2020 recipient of the prestigious Paul L. Kirk Award, the highest honor bestowed to a forensic scientist within the Criminalistics Section of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists.

Education

Dr. Almirall received a BS in Chemistry from Florida International University, a Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Miami, a Master of Public Administration from FIU and a PhD in Pure and Applied Chemistry from the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, Scotland).