Education

• J.D. (University of Virginia School of Law, 2006)
• M.S., Criminal Justice, conc. Forensic Science (Virginia Commonwealth University, 2002)
• B.S., Biology (College of William and Mary, 1999)

Research Interests

Philpott is a scientific and legal consultant, specializing in strategic litigation related to the forensic sciences. In that role, she advises individuals and organizations with respect to case-specific and systemic forensic issues and is involved with policy efforts at the local, state and federal levels to improve and reform forensic practice and develop consensus standards, including involvement in the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) and the American Academy of Forensic Science Standards Board (ASB). She also trains attorneys (prosecution and defense), judges, and investigators on a broad array of topics, including evidence law, the scientific method, cognitive bias and human factors, laboratory validation, as well as discipline-specific training with particular emphasis on forensic DNA. 

Philpott also assists with research related to new forensic biology techniques, particularly characterization and front-end separation of biological mixtures based on morphological, autofluorescence and biochemical profiles with Dr. Ehrhardt’s laboratory.

Select Publications

• Ingram, S., DeCorte, A., Moldenhauer, T., Philpott M.K., Stedler, S., Steinberg, C., Millman, J., Ehrhardt, C.J. (2022) Differentiation of vaginal cells from epidermal cells using morphological and autofluorescence properties; implications for sexual assault casework involving digital penetration.  Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series. (In press, accepted Sept. 23, 2022.)
• Krane, D.E., Philpott,  M.K. (2021) Using laboratory validation to identify and establish limits to the reliability of probabilistic genotyping systems. In: Dash H.R., Shrivastava P., Lorente J.A. (eds)  Handbook of DNA Profiling.  Springer, Singapore. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-9364-2_10-1 
• Brocato, E.R., Philpott, M.K., Connon, C.M., Ehrhardt, C.J. (2018) Rapid Differentiation of Epithelial Cell Types in Aged Biological Samples Using Autofluorescence and Morphological Signatures. PLOS One. 5/17/18.
• Philpott, M.K., Stanciu, C.E., Kwon, Y., Bustamante, E.E., Greenspoon, S.A., Ehrhardt, C.J. (2017) Analysis of cellular autofluorescence in touch samples by flow cytometry: implication for the front end separation of trace mixture evidence. Journal of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 409(17): 4167-4179.
• Dean, L., Kwon, Y.J., Philpott, M.K., Stanciu, C.E., Seashols-Williams, S.J., Dawson Cruz, T., Sturgill, J., Ehrhardt, C.J. (2015) Separation of Whole Blood Mixtures for Single Source STR Profiling Using Fluorescently-labeled HLA Probes and FACS. Forensic Science International-Genetics. 17:8-16. DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2015.03.003