AMBER Alert Europe has launched Europe’s first-ever Scientific Advisory Board on missing persons, bringing together leading European academics who are at the forefront of research into missing persons and the underlying issues that contribute to disappearances.
The Scientific Advisory Board is unique in Europe. It is the first board fully dedicated to this topic, providing academic expertise on missing persons, their prevention, and the complex societal and legal factors surrounding them. The board is composed of experts carefully selected from AMBER Alert Europe’s extensive network of more than 50 universities and police academies, highlighting the organisation’s strong ties with the academic communities.
International Experts at the Forefront of Missing Persons research
The Scientific Advisory Board consists of four distinguished professors, each with a proven track record in research areas essential to understanding and addressing the phenomenon of missing persons.
Prof. Anja Schiemann (Cologne University, Germany) is Chair of the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Policy. She is an expert in criminal law and criminal policy, providing critical insights into how legal systems approach missing persons cases.
Prof. Gijs van Dijck (Maastricht University, Netherlands) is Professor of Private Law, Digitalization, and Legal AI, and leads the Maastricht Law & Tech Lab. His research focuses on the intersection of law and technology, with valuable applications for improving investigative tools and search processes.
Prof. Koen Lemmens (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium) is professor of human rights at Leuven Centre for Public Law and (former) President of the Belgian Federal Human Rights Institute. He brings extensive expertise in human rights, particularly in protecting the rights of missing persons and their families.
Prof. Fiona Gabbert (Goldsmiths University of London, United Kingdom) is Director of the Forensic Psychology Unit, an invited member of the National Missing Persons Expert Reference Group (UK), and an elected Governing Board member of the Society of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. She is a global leader in forensic psychology, focusing on improving investigative interviewing techniques to gather reliable information in missing persons cases.
Supporting the Field with Scientific Expertise
The creation of this Scientific Advisory Board is a major step in ensuring that responses to missing persons are guided by the latest academic research and best practices. The board will contribute to improving prevention strategies, search methodologies, and policies across Europe.
Importantly, the board is not limited to advising AMBER Alert Europe. It is also available to support law enforcement agencies, governments, and organisations throughout Europe dealing with complex missing persons cases or broader questions related to disappearances and their causes.
This new board marks a significant advancement in the European response to missing persons, providing a unique platform where science, practice, and policy meet to improve outcomes for missing persons and their families.
“There is still a significant lack of scientific research into the phenomenon of missing persons,” says Frank Hoen, Chairman and Founder of AMBER Alert Europe. With this Scientific Advisory Board, we aim to address this gap by promoting and supporting much-needed and continuous research that can help improve prevention, investigations, and responses to missing persons cases across Europe.”
