About Dr René Gapert

I am an independent Consultant Forensic Anthropologist and Human Remains Specialist in Ireland.  I trained as a Medical Dissector/Prosector in Anatomy, Pathology and Forensic Medicine in Berlin, Heidelberg and Düsseldorf in Germany and pursued doctoral research studies in Forensic Anthropology and Human Anatomy at University College Dublin in Ireland.

I hold a Doctorate (PhD) in Forensic Anthropology and Anatomy and a Professional Certificate in Forensic Radiography from UCD. I am a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute, a Member of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences, a Member (former Council Member) of the British Association for Human Identification, a Founder Member of the British Association for Forensic Anthropology and a Member of the Medico-Legal Society of Ireland.  I am an Accredited Forensic Anthropologist Level III under the UK Justice System and I am listed on the Forensic Experts Advisers Database of the National Crime Agency (NCA).

I have over 20 years of experience in the dissection of the structures of the human body and 19 years of experience in the examination and analysis of human remains in forensic and historical contexts.


To date I have assisted various Irish Coroners in mummified, decomposed and skeletonised remains examinations, worked with the Office of the State Pathologist in Dublin and the Irish Police (An Garda Síochána) in the investigation and identification of human and non-human remains and the Coroner for Belfast in Northern Ireland with trauma analysis in legacy cases.  I also worked on identifying victims of mass fatalities in the UK. I am a member of the Mass Fatality Framework Document Development Group set up by the Irish Government's National Directorate of Fire & Emergency Management.


Internationally, I have assisted the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Berlin, Germany and the Berlin Police in skeletal remains analysis, the Australian Government in the analysis of indigenous remains for repatriation from Europe and the Buchenwald Memorial Centre in Weimar with bone analyses. 


I conduct ongoing multidisciplinary research in forensic anthropology, human anatomy and human identification and have published over 18 peer reviewed research papers and case histories and contributed a co-authored case report chapter to the BAHID book Advances in Forensic Human Identification (2014).

Languages: English and German