Primary Department: Institute of Forensic Sciences
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Pramod Gumpeni, M.D., Interim Executive Director & Chief Medical Examiner
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Supplemental RCA
Type of Request: Donation
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request by the Institute of Forensic Sciences for approval of one temporary Postdoctoral Fellow position paid for by donation as part of an Institute of Forensic Sciences project to identify unknown decedents, effective July 11, 2026.
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Background and Discussion:
Texas Center for the Missing is requesting to donate the cost for salary and benefits of an Anthropology Fellow (Postdoctoral Fellow I) to serve in the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences (HCIFS), for at least the remainder of FY26 and all of FY27. The proposed position will be full-time and dedicated to the identification of unknown decedents for whom the office has medicolegal jurisdiction. The HCIFS currently has jurisdiction over approximately 300 unknown decedents. These are primarily older cases (1970s-1990s) of unknown people who are buried in the county cemetery, and which predate DNA analysis and other forensic technologies now available to help determine decedent identification.
The responsibilities of the Postdoctoral Fellow will be to:
* Review and update HCIFS unknown decedent case files and select cases for possible exhumation. HCIFS currently has approximately 150 unknown cases that are interred, for which no DNA specimens have been extra...
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