Jamel Oeser-Sweat
Reviews
"There have been other forensic DNA books written before, but none has taken the reader through all aspects of DNA testing like this one...this book alone could make you feel prepared to understand a DNA case…
" (Clinical Chemistry, September 2005)"…a comprehensive, up-to-date discussion of forensic DNA technologies and their legal implications in the courtroom." (CHOICE, April 2005)
"…a concise guide to the use of DNA forensic analysis and how the information gained from such techniques are used in the legal system." (E-STREAMS, February 2005)
This valuable codebook will go a long way toward helping us win the 'DNA battle'...we owe the authors a great debt of gratitude." (New York Law Journal, December 15, 2004)
DNA: Forensic and Legal Applications
Includes a Foreword by Dr. James D. Watson, the co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, and Dr. Jan A. Witkowski.
"From the Foreword by Drs. Watson and Witkowski: 'DNA: Forensic and Legal Applications is a comprehensive and invaluable guide to the field, covering topics ranging from collecting samples in the field to presenting the complex results to a jury. We are sure that it will play its part in promoting this most powerful tool in the forensic scientist's armamentarium.'"
Selected Citations:
THE CENTRAL PARK 5 Sarah Burns
DNA Fabrication, A Wake Up Call: The Need to Reevaluate the Admissibility and Reliability of DNA Evidence, Georgia State University Law Review.
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, July 1 2007
DNA Evidence - Harold Price Fahringer, et. al
Forensic use of DNA information: human rights, privacy and other challenges
Touch DNA: Forensic Collection and Application to Investigations
Re balancing the Scales of Justice with DNA
The Prosecution and Defense of Sex Crimes 2022 LexisNexis
Selected Citations:
THE CENTRAL PARK 5 Sarah Burns
DNA Fabrication, A Wake Up Call: The Need to Reevaluate the Admissibility and Reliability of DNA Evidence, Georgia State University Law Review.
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, July 1 2007
DNA Evidence - Harold Price Fahringer, et. al
Forensic use of DNA information: human rights, privacy and other challenges
Touch DNA: Forensic Collection and Application to Investigations
Re balancing the Scales of Justice with DNA
The Prosecution and Defense of Sex Crimes 2022 LexisNexis
With 23 different program sites in Harlem, East Harlem and the South Bronx, which together will annually serve over 7,600 youth and 1,000 families, SCAN-Harbor will establish itself as one of the largest youth service providers in the community it serves.
SCAN-HARBOR is a member of the United Neighborhood Houses, an organization that is composed of organizations also known as Settlement Houses. Our work was featured in the PBS Treasures of New York series! Becky Fasanello's work on that episode was nominated for an Emmy Award and won a New York State Award for excellence in Broadcasting!
I first worked with SCAN in 1986 when my family became homeless after my mother fled the Police and Child Welfare authorities seeking to take my brothers and I and put us into foster care. We were homeless fugitives for several months before she was caught. Part of her negotiated disposition with the Court was to work with SCAN. I joined the Board in 2002 and several years ago became the President of the Board. Within weeks of being elected President, I and several others from SCAN had a meeting with Stephen Dannhauser who was the Chairman of Boys & Girls Harbor and the former Chairman of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. He proposed a merger of SCAN and Boys and Girls Harbor and asked me to work with him to make it happen. Our two Boards, along with our Executive Director, Lew Zuchman, a former Freedom Rider, worked tirelessly to make it happen. I was honored to be the first Board President of the combined organization SCAN-HARBOR and was reelected to a second term.
I think it is amazing that I have been able to serve with these amazing people who have managed to ensure that almost 100 million dollars in grants and donations ensured that services and support continued in inner city neighborhoods. At our latest gala, Board Member Steward Gross led an amazing effort and we were able to raise approximately a million dollars for the Children of East Harlem and the South Bronx! Board Member Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music and Google and Youtube gave our kids one of the most amazing gifts ensuring Wyclef performed at the Gala. Wyclef worked with our kid and also performed with them, as you can see in the video. These children know that they are special and can perform with the world's best because the world's best have given of themselves to convey that message. This type of empowerment of Youth has been a special result of our new combined organization.
I grew up in a housing project across the street from Lilian Wald Houses. Now I run a settlement house, just as she did. This work is special. So many children learn that they have to get out of the neighborhood to succeed. My success here teaches a new paradigm, that we must come back, give back and assist others and create sustainable systems that ensure the success of our children and communities. I thank my Board and the organization for the transferable skills that I have obtained and for the Mentorship that I have received. From Lew Zuchman allowing me to become his boss after spending years telling him I would be his boss one day as a child to the faith that the both the SCAN and the Harbor boards put in me to make the merger happen and to run the organization.
"Finally, someone has gotten around to actually telling the story of the birds and the bees...For generations, children (and oddly enough, some adults) have asked the question, "where do babies come from?" There have been answers from the biological to the absurd. However, everyone knows its got to do with birds and bees...but what does that mean? Did your mother ever tell you? J.L. Sweat masterfully tells a captivating non-biological story about how babies come from the birds and the bees. This story even makes mention of other mysterious loose ends, like sugar & frogs, to go where no story has gone before! No longer do you have to wonder whether a child is old enough to know the story you don't even know. Buy this book and know the real story!!"
I literally wrote the story of the Birds and the Bees!
As a homeless child, I was fortunate enough to find scouting. As a child running the streets of New York during the crack epidemic, my boy scout handbook didn't just give me comfort, it gave me a code. I read it over and over again, carried it around and found it to be useful. Despite not attending school regularly, I worked hard to advance in rank and found scouting to be one of the only consistent and fair things in my life. When I was locked away in group homes, the judge allowed me to camp with the scouts. Even in the middle of the winter in the cold it was better than being locked in a Group home. Scouting helped me through homelessness and foster care the way that some people find refuge and strength in religion. I got to shoot, learn skills, swim, and better myself. I am proud to be not just an eagle scout but among those put forth to be in the Eagle Scout hall of fame due to my having been a winner in the Westinghouse Science Competition.
The First knot here can be worn by all Eagle scouts. You can wear a medal or a patch.
I am also proud to have been a winner of the Young American Award. I can wear this second knot as a result of being a recipient of this award. One of my co-recipients, Lethuy Thi Nguyen, of Oklahoma was an Asian American woman who fought to one day be a pediatrician despite her parents not believing that a girl should chase such pursuits. She died in a car accident and never got to get her MD. She was a strong role model not just to Asian American women who seek a better life, but for all of us who believe that we can escape the gravity of the worlds we were born into. I am honored to have received this Department of Justice award that was administered by the Boy Scouts of America.
Microbiology Textbook
As a young microbiologist, I was fortunate to work with the Director of Clinical Microbiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Dr. Edward Bottone. He was a mentor to me and helped me to work to discover a new route of transmission for a disease in which several pathogenic bacterial species infected the human skin through Loofah Sponges, Pumice Stones and other exfoliative devices. My research led to many medical journal articles and citations, including the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. My research has directly influenced modern day medical skin care, wellness, aquatic and hygiene beliefs and sales strategies. The one article set forth here was cited over 37 times in medical journals and is still cited today, most recently in 2022. The work has also been cited in Patents countless blogs, articles and newspapers and inspired inventions that prevent potential infection.
As a tribute to my work and all I overcame to make it happen, Dr. Tortora, Dr. Funke and Dr. Case honored me by putting me and Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, the organism I most worked with, on the cover of their Microbiology Textbook.
I have been featured in hundreds of newspapers and magazines in my lifetime. One of the most amazing experiences was being on the cover of the New York Times and having a spread in the metro section. Often, in order to be front page news, one has to engage in something negative. I am proud of the fact that my journey has been consistently supported by members of the media, many of whom have become family and friends over the years! This led to offers of movie deals and other opportunities, which I declined because even then, I knew there was more to accomplish and more to do. President Clinton visited me and told me that he had read my story, and that he was proud of me. He talked about parallels with his own life. He told me to hang in there and that he expected much more from me. A Readers Digest article on my life was seen in approximately 70 countries and 21 languages. I received letters of support from people in many different languages! I was also featured in many educational, pedagogical, psychology, religious and poetry books!
After being name an STS Westinghouse winner, I was named an NAACP NASA Superstar of Science! I participated in NAACP programs including NAACP ACT-SO.
Westinghouse Science Talent Search
I was fortunate enough to be named a finalist and 10th Place winner at the Westinghouse Science Talent Search.
The competition is the Nation's Oldest and most prestigious science and mathematics competition. It was started in 1942 as the Westinghouse Science talen Search and is now called the Regeneron Science Talent Search. It was also called the Intel Science Talent Search. The idea was discussed and came from a meeting at the 1939 World's Fair, which as everyone knows, took place not to far from where I live in Queens.
The moment I was named a finalist, my life changed forever. There were cameras and a spot light and there was an odd level of unsolicited and unexpected attention and interest that never faded. I got to spend time with Presidents and Senators and Nobel Prize winners. Pictured with me here, patiently listening to me explain my work is Doctor Robert Wilson, who won the Nobel Prize for confirming the big bang theory!
NAACP - THE CRISIS MAGAZINE
I attended New York University as one of the first (of two) Samuel F.B Morse Scholars. I received a full scholarship and funding for my research. I attended St. John's University School of Law and received a scholarship. I was a participant in the Academic Achievement Program (AAP) at NYU and received the Alumni Trailblazer award.