Manfred Kayser - Biography#

For over 20 years, Manfred Kayser is (full) Professor of Forensic Molecular Biology at Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, where he was founding head of the Dept. of Forensic Molecular Biology (2004 - 2014) and head of the renamed (2015) Dept. of Genetic Identification, which was closed (2025) via an institutional reorganisation and his professorship and research group were transferred to the Dept. of Pathology. He is recognized as worldwide leader in Forensic Molecular Biology and Forensic Genetics. His PhD research was instrumental in initiating the subfield Forensic Y-chromosome Analysis, which became part of forensic routine, for which he received the Research Award of German Society of Legal Medicine (1998). His first and subsequent discoveries of rapidly-mutating Y-STRs and development of DNA-tools for male relative differentiation improved Forensic Y-chromosome Analysis by moving it towards male individual identification. His milestone discoveries in human appearance genetics and his development of forensic DNA-tools for appearance prediction, including the first ones, were key in initiating and establishing the subfield Forensic DNA Phenotyping, which became part of forensic routine, for which he received the Scientific Prize of International Society for Forensic Genetics (2017). Largely based on his work, legislations were changed in several countries to legally allow appearance DNA prediction in forensic casework. His discovery of non-degrading RNA markers with high tissue specificity and further development human and microbial DNA marker and tools were key in establishing the subfield Forensic Tissue Identification, which became part of forensic routine.

He attracted 45 million EUR funding of which 9.6 million for his own research. He was leading applicant, coordinator, and work package leader of the only one forensic genetic project funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program. He authored over 300 peer-reviewed articles in international scientific journals and over 40 not peer-reviewed articles and chapters in books and online encyclopedias which were cited over 40,000 times; his H-index is over 100. He is listed as most cited scientist worldwide in Forensic Genetics and second most in Forensic Medicine (1960 - 2023). He serves/served as Editor-in-Chief, Associate -, Academic -, Section, Guest Editor, Advisory and Editorial Board Member for several scientific journals, ad-hoc reviewer for many, including leading journals, and for funding agencies and scientific institutions in several countries. He is highly engaged in disseminating science to the general public.