MS FOS Thesis

Thesis Policy Requirements, Procedures, and Submissions Procedures

Completing a thesis is mandatory for all MS FOS students.

Prospectus Class

To be allowed to submit the thesis, students must complete the Thesis Prospectus series (FOS795-797). This series of three pass-fail courses introduces the student to scholarly research, report writing, library research, and documentation styles/techniques. Students should register for FOS 795 in their first semester of study. In FOS 795, students will be introduced to science faculty members and ongoing research projects. FOS 796 mainly consists of seminars by external forensic experts. In FOS797, students are expected to present their thesis research.

Choosing a Thesis Advisor

A thesis advisor must be a full-time graduate faculty member in the MS-FOS program. Alternate arrangements may be made only with the approval of the Program Director.

Thesis Advisory Committee

The composition of the thesis committee will vary according to the thesis sponsor’s research direction. Each committee consists of at least three members. The thesis advisor acts as the chair of the committee. The second member must also be MS-FOS graduate faculty in the Department of Sciences at John Jay, but can be full-time or part-time. The mandatory third reader must be external to the MS FOS Program; however, they must have appropriate academic credentials (as determined by the program director) or scientific expertise related to the research project. External members of the thesis committee may be drawn from other John Jay College Departments, other CUNY colleges, other New York City research institutions, or a relevant discipline of the different local crime laboratories. The Program Director needs to approve this member.

Thesis Timeline and Tracking

A student should start inquiring about MS FOS faculty research and searching for a thesis advisor during the first year of study. Once the student and the faculty member have mutually agreed to thesis advisement, formulated a project title, and the Thesis Advisor Agreement has been filled out and submitted to the Program Director, the faculty member will become the student’s thesis advisor. The program director will inform the prospectus course instructors about the various thesis projects students are working on. Upon completing the approved thesis, the student will be eligible for a Master’s degree. The public oral presentation of the thesis work will be planned based on the student’s progress shortly before or after the completion of the thesis manuscript.

Submission Deadlines for Thesis

The MS-FOS program director must approve each thesis before submission to the library. To allow for sufficient review time, the following semester-based deadlines apply:

Fall Semester: Early December
Spring Semester: Middle of May
Summer Semester: Early August

For the final sign-off, submit a hard copy of your thesis to the Program Director, including the two signed original approval pages. Students are encouraged to submit their thesis before the deadline.

For any additional questions, please get in touch with Marta Concheiro-Guisan via email (mconcheiro-Guisan@jjay.cuny.edu).

MS Theses

2026

Student Name	Student Last Name	MS Thesis Title	Mentor & Specialization
Mai	Cisse	Exploring the Impact of Cannabinoids on CB1 Receptor-Mediated Calcium Signaling in Human Astrocyte Cells	Mentor: Dr. Shu-Yuan Cheng; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Hajar	Hassan	A Qualitative and Quantitative Comparative Analysis of Ballistic Bone Trauma from Frangible and Full Metal Jacket Projectiles	Mentor: Dr. Angelique Corthals; Anthropology
John	Zukowski	Effect of food resource, preservation method, and preservation duration on larval size of forensically important fly species (Order: Diptera)	Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Rosati; Entomology
Mara	Mineo	Viability of Manually Passing Projectiles Through the Barrel of a Firearm in lieu of Test Firing	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Maria	Mayol	Real Bullets, Plastic Guns: Evaluating the Strength of 3-D Printed Gun Parts	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Pei	Du	Assessing the Utility of Elemental Profiling of the Silt-Sized Fraction of Soils for Forensic and Intelligence Applications	Mentor: Dr. Jack Hietpas; Specialization: Criminalistics
Skye	Lehr	Investigating the Detection Ability of Presumptive Bloodstain Testing Through Concealment Obstacles	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Steven	Bermejo	Assessing the Impact Dynamics of Less Lethal Ammunition	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Amanda	Martinez	Exploring Biogeographical Ancestry Inference of New York Residents Using a 45 INDEL Panel	Mentor: Dr. Lissette Delgado-Cruzata; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Avani	Seelall	Development and Optimization of a Rapid and Comprehensive Drug Screening Method in Urine by LC-MS/MS	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Baylee	Clore	Evaluation of POPEth, PLPEth, Ethyl-Sulfate, and Ethyl-Glucuronide as Markers of Alcohol Exposure in Different Biological Samples	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Brooke	Fontaine	Development and Validation of a Method for Simultaneous Determination of Hair Glucocorticoids and Endocannabinoids as Biomarkers of Stress during Pregnancy	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Christopher	McGrowder	Pre-analytical Stability of Tryptamine Derivatives in Blood and Plasma: Role of Ascorbic Acid and Preservatives	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Davina	Jetoo	Development and Validation of a Rapid Screening Method to Identify 89 Drugs in Oral Fluid by LC-MS/MS	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
DJ	Chasse	Forensic Analysis of Temporary Tattoo Markers and Inks	Mentor: Dr. Kubic; Specialization: Criminalistics
Krystyna	Borshchevskaya	Regulation of CB1 Receptors in SH-SY5Y Cells by THC, CBD, AB CHMINACA, and MMB-CHMICA Determined by Measurement of Intracellular Ca2+	Mentor: Dr. Shu-Yuan Cheng; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Fnu	Mahnoor	Method Development of a Crash and Shoot Targeted Screening for 86 Drugs in Brain Tissues by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Stephanie	Rodriguez	Tiny Samples, Big Impact: Detecting Prenatal Alcohol Exposure using Phosphatidylethanol in Dried Blood Spots by LC-MS/MS	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Vani	Bhagwandeen	The Comparative Chemical Analysis of Colored Henna	Mentor: Dr. Angelique Corthals

2025

Student Name	Student Last Name	MS Thesis Title	Mentor & Specialization
Linda	Obeng	Method Development and Optimization for the Detection of Synthetic Cannabinoids in Hair using LC-MSMS	Mentor: Dr. Ana Pego; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Felicia	Mok	Method Development for Analysis of Flavorants in E-Cigarette Liquids and Aerosols with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry	Mentor: Dr. Yi He; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Rachel	Chan	Passive DNA Transfer to Fidget Blasters Stored in Cars	Mentor: Dr. Mechthild Prinz; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Elaan	Lukasiewicz	Characterization of DNA Background on Duct Tape Stored in Domestic Environments	Mentor: Dr. Mechthild Prinz; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Yana	Leichyk	STR Analysis Performance Comparison for two Capillary Electrophoresis Instruments: the SeqStudio and the 3500 Genetic Analyzers	Mentor: Dr. Mechthild Prinz; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Yuching	Chung	Indirect DNA Transfer to Duct Tape Rolls Stored in Cars	Mentor: Dr. Mechthild Prinz; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Amber	Chauca	cg18562578 MethylQuant Assay for the Discrimination of Monozygotic Twins	Mentor: Dr. Lissette Delgado-Cruzata; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Sydney	Arnold	Exploring variability of the cg18562578 MethylQuant assay for the forensic discrimination of monozygotic twins	Mentor: Dr. Lissette Delgado-Cruzata; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Jacqueline	Molina	Implementation of a forensic ancestry inference INDEL panel	Mentor: Dr. Lissette Delgado-Cruzata; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Daniel	Oh	Further Investigation of Environmental Factors on Rapid Shear in Fibers of a Polyester-Cotton Blend	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Charles	Jin	Effects of Rapid Shearing Depending on Environmental Factors: Acrylic, Modacrylic, and Polypropylene Fibers	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Seokjin	Hwang	Fast & Forensic: Rapid Detection & Quantitation of 30 + Emerging Novel Psychoactive Substances in Hair Using LC-MS/MS	Mentor: Dr. Ana Pego; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Selin	Ates	DNA Extraction and Species Determination of Historic Museum Pelts	Mentor: Dr. Nathan Lents; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Samantha	Mulkeen	Quick and Easy Method for the Determination of Cocaine and Six Metabolites in Postmortem Hair	Mentor: Dr. Ana Pego; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Natalia	Agilar	The Effect of Bullet Morphology and Intermediate Targets on Bullet Path	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Mia	Sorrentino	A Qualitative NMR and Histological Analysis of Adipocere Formation in Different Aqueous Environments using Sus Scrofa Models	Mentor: Dr. Angelique Corthals; Specialization: Forensic Anthropology
Horaceena	Findley	Histomorphology of Sharp-Force Trauma on Partially Cremated Remains	Mentor: Dr. Angelique Corthals; Specialization: Forensic Anthropology
Geneva	Loomis	The Bones Never Rest: Determination of Alkaloids in Bones in an Archeo-Toxicological Context	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Ethan	Frazer	Transfer of Material Derived from Polymer-Jacketed Bullets During Cycling and Discharge	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Emily	Sam-Zee-Moi	Non-Destructive Dry Vacuum Recovery of DNA from Fabric	Mentor: Dr. Mechthild Prinz; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Abdelrahman	Khalifa	Bullet Ricochet and Tunnelling of Wood Substrates	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Ashef	Ameer	PFAS Levels in Hair: Comparing US Populations to Global Trends	Mentor: Dr. Ana Pego; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Deanna	Corsetti	An Exploratory Study of Tattoo Documentation Quality Among Investigators and Medical Examiners	Mentor: Dr. Mechthild Prinz; Specialization: Molecular Biology

2024

Student Name	Student Last Name	MS Thesis Title	Mentor & Specialization
Alexandra	Leichnam	An Internal Validation of the ANDE Rapid DNA Instrument for Bone, Tissue, and Blood Samples	Mentor: Dr. Mechthild Prinz; Specialization: Molecular Biology; Research Conducted Via Outside Lab Partnership: NYC-OCME
Melissa	Koffer	Determination of Common Drugs of Abuse and Metabolites in Oral Fluid: Comparison of Different Extraction Procedure	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Kuanwei	Lu	Stability of DNA in saliva evidence collected with two different swabbing solutions	Mentor: Dr. Mechthild Prinz; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Ivan	Cordova	Investigation of the Prevalence of Designer Fentanyl in a Drug Testing Population Using Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS-MS)	Mentor: Dr. Richard Stripp ; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry; Research Conducted Via Outside Lab Partnership: Navis
Esther	Abady	Hairry Potter World: Are gel and oil the scorchers magic to altering external cocaine and BE concentrations in hair	Mentor: Dr. Ana Pego; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry

2023

Student Name	Student Last Name	MS Thesis Title	Mentor & Specialization
Abigail	Wilson	Open Fire: The Expansion of 9mm Hollow Point Bullets in Relation to Tissue Thickness	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Nicholas	Lovera	"Identification of Different Hair Dyes in Dyed Hair using Attenuated To" by Nicholas Lovera	Mentor: Dr. Ali Kocak; Specialization: Criminalistics
Emily	Pagano	Detection of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol In Utero Exposure by Umbilical Cord Analysis	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Christina	Fernandez	Comparison of Hydrolysis Efficiency and Performance of Four Recombinant β- glucuronidase Enzymes for the Detection of Opioids in Urine Samples by LC-MS/MS	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Falyn	Vega	"Extraction of Challenging Forensic Samples Using the MicroGEM DNA Extr" by Falyn R. Vega	Mentor: Dr. Richard Li; Specialization: Molecular Biology; Research Conducted Via Outside Lab Partnership: NYC-OCME
Genesis	Echavarria	"DNA Shedding Propensity and Individual Characteristics" by Genesis Echavarria	Mentor: Dr. Mechthild Prinz; Specialization: Molecular Biology
Alexandra	Dombroski	The Effect of Henna and Bleach Treatments on Cocaine Hair External Contamination	Mentor: Dr. Ana Pego; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Liana	Albano	"Analysis of Polymer-Coated Bullets Using Spectroscopic Methods" by Liana R. Albano	Mentor: Dr. Peter Diaczuk; Specialization: Criminalistics
Regina	Filus	"Method Development and Validation of Controlled Substances on a Gas Ch" by Regina E. Filus	Mentor: Dr. Gloria Proni; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Alejandro	O'Campo	Investigation into the utility of the submaxillary gland androgen-regulated protein 3B (SMR3B) as a normalizing factor in oral fluid	Mentor: Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Marialejandra	Faure-Betancourt	Hair and Drugs: The Impact of Dry Shampoo and Gel on Cocaine-Contaminated Hair	Mentor: Dr. Ana Pego; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry
Sarah	Aliahmad	The Effect of Resource Quality and Species Interactions on Dermestes maculatus	Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Rosati; Specialization: Forensic Entomology
Eldad	Cano	Comparing Bone Histology, Topography, and Other Physical Attributes to the Presence of Viable DNA After Interval Cremation	Mentor: Dr. Angelique Corthals; Specialization: Forensic Anthropology
Jenna	Monsell	The Method Development and Validation of Designer Benzodiazepines in Oral Fluid using Solid Phase Extraction and LC-MS/MS	Mentor: Dr. Richard Stripp; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry; Research Conducted Via Outside Lab Partnership: Navis
Delia	Guzman	Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol Effect on Dopamine Transporter Expression and Function	Mentor: Dr. Shu-Yuan Cheng; Specialization: Toxicology/Forensic Chemistry

For additional (before 2023) Forensic Science MS Theses, click here.