Michaelis (pictured) was the primary author of “A Litigator’s Guide to DNA: From the Laboratory to the Courtroom,” which was published in 2008. Alito cited the book in reference to how DNA testing can be affected by malfunctions and human errors, risks associated with mishandling evidence as a result of the sensitivity of a kind of DNA test, and how defense attorneys can question any detail of a laboratory operation.

“I am thrilled to know that my work is having that kind of impact on its field,” said Michaelis. “It makes the time I spent working on it all worthwhile.”

Michaelis was inspired to write the book when he applied for a forensic science faculty position at WCU.“I was preparing for the interviews at WCU, reading relevant things from the field of forensics, and I noticed there was no book out there that combined the three subjects a DNA lawyer or judge needs to know – the molecular biology behind forensic testing, the statistical theory one needs to know to properly interpret the probative value of the evidence and the issues that prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges face when litigating a case that involves DNA evidence.”

Michaelis spent the next three-and-a-half years working on the project with help from two legal experts. His co-authors were Robert G. Flanders Jr., former associate justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and Paula H. Wulff, who was then the program manager for the Forensic DNA Program at the National District Attorneys Association’s American Prosecutors Research Institute. Wulff is now an attorney at the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico, Va.

“My father is a retired attorney, and it has given me great pleasure that I was able to produce such a substantial work in the field that he worked in for so long,” said Michaelis. “He, needless to say, is impressed to no end that my book is being used by the Supreme Court.”

Michaelis is currently writing two new books related to genomic medicine – “The Busy Physician’s Guide to Genetics, Genomics and Personalized Medicine” and “What the Recent Advances in Genetic Research Mean for Your Family’s Health Care.”

“The recent advances in genetic research are ushering in an era of personalized medicine, in which genetic tests can tell us what diseases we are most at risk for, and what treatments or drug doses will work best for each individual patient,” said Michaelis. 

For more information, contact Michaelis at (828) 227-3662 or michaelis@email.wcu.edu.

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Last Modified: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009