Dr David Ballard gained his first degree in Physiology from University College London in 1998, his MSc in Forensic Science from King’s College London in 2000, and his PhD titled “Characterization and differentiation of three British population groups” from the University of London in 2013. He is a senior lecturer in forensic genomics as well as the programme director for the MSc/MRes Forensic Science programmes. In this role, he leads these postgraduate degree programmes and teaches forensic genetics at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

For the last 20 years Dr Ballard has combined forensic casework activity, as the principal scientist within the ISO17025 accredited DNA analysis at King’s laboratory, while conducting research in forensic genomics. His knowledge and expertise in DNA analysis is now being used to identify bushmeat versus legal meat products and to provide important genetic information on the pangolin genome that has not been well described in the scientific literature.

His current research interests are focused on massively parallel sequencing technologies and DNA intelligence applications including metagenomics and phenotype prediction. Please see his PURE profile for more details. He has published over 50 research articles that have gained over 2000 citations. Additionally, he is a member of the International Society of Forensic Genetics DNA Commission tasked to develop new international standards for the use of next generation sequencing technology in forensic DNA applications and recommend new nomenclature standards. He is also a member of the editorial board of Forensic Science International: Genetics.