Journal of Forensic Science & Criminology

Dr. Paula Carolina Kotli is a biomolecular scientist and the founder of paleoproteomics research in Israel, pioneering the molecular study of ancient and forensic materials. She earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Food Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and completed her Ph.D. in Paleoproteomics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, where she developed proteomic methods to study animal domestication through enamel analysis of samples from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) Southern Levant. Currently a postdoctoral fellow at Tel Aviv University in Dr. Vivian Slon’s Historical and Prehistorical Genetics Laboratory, Dr. Kotli leads research integrating ancient DNA and proteomics to detect ancient pathogens and reconstruct molecular evidence from highly degraded or poorly preserved samples. Her studies—published in Scientific Reports, Journal of Proteome Research, and Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports—include the internationally acclaimed discovery of a Byzantine ascetic woman buried in chains, which redefined early Christian asceticism and demonstrated the forensic power of biomolecular evidence.

Paleoproteomics and biomolecular forensics, Multi-omics approaches integrating ancient DNA and proteomics, Molecular recovery from degraded and poorly preserved remains, Peptide-based sex and species identification, Ancient pathogen detection and molecular taphonomy, Forensic applications of enamel and skeletal proteomics