Charla Marshall

Biography

Charla Marshall is a molecular anthropologist with a background in ancient DNA. Dr. Marshall transitioned to forensics in 2014 as Chief of the Emerging Technologies Section (ETS) at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL). In this role, she leads a team of scientists to identify, test, and validate novel technologies for DNA-assisted identification of missing U.S. service members. Current efforts are focused on mitochondrial genome sequencing methods for degraded skeletal remains as well as high-quality reference samples. Other active areas of research are DNA extraction and repair, SNP capture for extended kinship analysis, and population sample databasing.