President’s Message – August 2026
“Come Together”, The Beatles

Dear Members of TIAFT,
Since my last message in April, I’m pleased to report that the TIAFT Symposium went well in Sofia, Bulgaria as part of the triannual IAFS meeting with thanks to those that contributed to the agenda and attended. Thanks and congratulations also go to the IAFS President and host, Dr Yanko Kolev, with our joint intent of providing a toxicology focus for forensic attendees who may not have ordinarily been aware of TIAFT and toxicology. The conference also enabled the TIAFT Board to have our in person Mid-Year Board meeting to review actions within the 3-year strategic plan as well as undertake our on-going executive tasks to support the Association. We are just over half-way through the 3 years and I’m pleased to say that we are fully on track. The details of which you’ll hear more about at upcoming meetings but in the meantime an additional item to be aware of and look forward to is the introduction of a new Young Scientist Award that recognises the impact of a Young Scientist’s work, particularly in their country/region. Furthermore, thank you to those who completed the member’s survey as this will enable this and future Boards to focus our efforts and investment on the areas that matter to members as well as highlighting aspects for improvement to the benefit of all.
In order to stay up to date with the ongoing news and any changes within the Association, please ensure that you have updated your details in the member’s site and especially your email address so you can receive the blast emails I and others send out to communicate information. Talking of email, also be mindful that official TIAFT emails come from @tiaft.org so be aware of the ad hoc scam emails that have circulated over the years purporting to be from the Board or myself as President. Don’t worry if there was anything very urgent or involving me requiring money from you, you’d know about it directly and not from a random email with a fake address.
Whilst it may have been a great excuse to refer to a classic song by Queen, I know I may have frightened and stressed out many members with my President’s message back in April with all the deadlines. But now the travel grants and awards have been issued and abstracts have been submitted, it’s time for you to reap the benefits of all that pressure as we look forward to the upcoming annual meeting in Chicago in September. I write this not long after the completion of the football World Cup (yes, football not soccer, I may be an international President but I am still British after all!). It was an occasion that brought together the greatest number of nations ever in the history of the tournament, to the USA. There were 48 countries represented and I know TIAFT will do even better with our SOFT hosts ready to welcome the world for the first joint SOFT-TIAFT meeting since Boca Raton in 2018. Eight years have flown by and as always it is an opportunity to have the best of both worlds and enjoy the SOFT workshops along with the scientific content and traditions of both organisations. With so much planned and happening during the week, make sure you keep up to date with the schedule and plan accordingly for what no doubt will be another successful joint meeting. One thing to note is that given the busy schedule and logistical constraints it’s going to be a not-to-be-missed annual TIAFT business meeting with various awards being handed out (instead of at the gala dinner) along with voting for the host of the 2030 TIAFT annual meeting.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Chicago and safe travels.

All the best,

Dr Simon Elliott TIAFT President