Core Team

Christopher A. Bradfield, PhD
Biological Principal Investigator

Dr. Chris Bradfield is a Professor in the Department of Oncology,  and Director of the UW Biotechnology Center.  Dr. Bradfield’s involvement with the UW MIA project is focused on the development of field identification analysis to improve accuracy and reliability, as well as to reduce site effort so that an increased number of projects can be completed.  In his other research, Bradfield leads a transdisciplinary team of population health scientists, geneticists, molecular biologists, and clinician scientists to study the role of Per-Arnt-Sim (PAS) sensors in environmentally-influenced diseases such as cancer and obesity.  Their overarching goals are to increase understanding of PAS family signaling pathways and to develop interventions and therapeutic strategies to improve human and environmental health.

Dr. Bradfield traveled with the team in summer 2019 to assist with an attempted remains recovery mission in Western Europe, the efforts of which are ongoing.

Gregg Jamison, PhD
Field Principal Investigator

Dr. Gregg Jamison is the Lead Archaeologist for the UW MIA Recovery and Identification Project. He earned his PhD in Anthropology from UW-Madison in 2017 and has taught a variety of introductory and upper-level anthropology courses at five Universities of Wisconsin campuses over the last fifteen years, most recently at UW-Milwaukee. Since 2018, Dr. Jamison has worked with the UW team field missions, partnering with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to help recover and repatriate the remains of missing American armed services personnel from WWII. He has conducted archaeological fieldwork in Bahrain, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Papua New Guinea, and across the midwestern United States. Dr. Jamison has co-edited two volumes on South Asian Archaeology and ancient seals and is the author or co-author of over twenty peer-reviewed publications. 

Kathleen Alfin, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow (DPAA)

Dr. Kathleen (Kate) Alfin is the UW-Madison Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Research Partner Fellow, working as a full-time historian through the “Hub and Spoke” research program. In cooperation with the UW MIA RIP, her work supports the mission of the DPAA. As a historical research fellow, she responds to research requests placed through the DPAA. Dr. Kate Alfin received her PhD in History from UW-Madison in 2023. Her dissertation examined the deployment of an African American army unit to Liberia during the Second World War and her research interests center around the history of race, gender, and sexuality in the American military. A retired US Army officer and Blackhawk helicopter pilot, Dr. Alfin previously served as an Assistant Professor of History at the United States Military Academy. During her tenure at USMA, she taught courses on African history and the history of the US Army, led the History Department’s counseling and advising section, and received the History Department’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

Lauren Jentsch 
Student Lead Researcher

Ms. Lauren Jentsch is the Student Lead Researcher for the Project. She provides guidance and resources to student volunteers in their work on cases and manages whole-team efforts. Ms. Jentsch is currently studying Political Science and Legal Studies with certificates in Public Policy and Gender/Womens’ Studies. Ms. Jentsch eventually hopes to join a career in law and public service. She joined the MIA Project in Fall 2023, drawn to the historical research aspect of the cases and the Project’s impact on local Wisconsinites.

Ryan Wubben, MD
Field Physician

Dr. Ryan Wubben serves as the team physician for the MIA program. Dr. Wubben is a Clinical Associate Professor with the UW School of Medicine and Public Health; and is an Emergency Physician in the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine. As a board-certified emergency physician, he works full time with the UW Med Flight program and has also been the medical director of Med Flight since 2008. Dr. Wubben received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana with an emphasis on archaeology, before moving on to medical school here at UW-Madison. As an undergraduate, he did a field school with the SMU-in-Taos program at Pot Creek Pueblo outside of Taos, New Mexico where he learned the essentials of archaeological excavation. He then went on to spend two summers at Grand Canyon National Park working in Resources Management doing archaeological survey work in preparation for prescribed burns.

Dr. Wubben traveled with the team in both the summers of 2016 and 2017 to Northern France to assist with the successful recovery of the remains of 1LT Frank Fazekas, in summer 2018 to France again, this time to assist with the successful recovery of remains of 2LT Walter B. Stone, and in the summer of 2019, he traveled to Western Europe to assist with the team’s most recent MIA service member remains recovery attempt mission, the efforts of which are ongoing.

Mark Berres, PhD
Lead Geneticist

Mark Berres, PhD, joined the UW–Madison Missing in Action (MIA) Recovery and Identification Project as Lead Geneticist after a decade of service in the UW Biotechnology Center’s Bioinformatics Resource Center. He received his B.S. in Genetics and Cellular Biology from the University of Minnesota – St. Paul and his PhD in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where his research examined how mating systems shape the genetic population structure of passerine and non-passerine birds.

At the MIA Recovery and Identification Project, Dr. Berres leads the genetic analysis program supporting the identification of U.S. service members missing from past conflicts. His work focuses on the recovery and interpretation of highly degraded DNA, including ancient and environmental DNA extracted from challenging archaeological, environmental, and historical contexts. Building on his expertise in molecular and population genetics, bioinformatics, and statistical analysis, he creates and directs genomic workflows used to identify individuals from partial remains or trace materials.

In addition to his MIA responsibilities, Dr. Berres contributes to forensic genetic investigations for law enforcement agencies, applying next-generation sequencing, low-coverage DNA analysis, and advanced computational pipelines to assist in the identification of unknown individuals in cold cases. His work also incorporates orthogonal data such as metagenomic microbial community profiles, soil and sediment signatures, and other contextual environmental DNA signals that provide independent lines of evidence for sample provenance, preservation state, and biological authenticity. Across both mission areas, his interdisciplinary approach integrates laboratory genetics, high-throughput sequencing, and robust bioinformatic methods to support accurate and ethically grounded human identification.

Brent Lehman
Lead DNA Specialist

Brent Lehman specializes in extracting and analyzing degraded DNA from soil and osseous materials such as bone and teeth. His work focuses on generating high quality DNA libraries using contamination controlled methods to enable next generation sequencing and bioinformatic analysis. Brent applies advanced molecular techniques to recover human and environmental DNA, supporting efforts to reconstruct genetic profiles and past ecological contexts. He is committed to advancing molecular science to uncover, preserve, and interpret genetic evidence from the past.