TERENCE KEEL
PROFESSOR, AUTHOR, & DIRECTOR OF THE BIOCRITICAL STUDIES LAB
The BioCritical Studies Lab
Under the direction of Professor Terence Keel, the UCLA Lab for BioCritical Studies explores the complex interactions between human biology and society. We are a team of researchers, graduate students, community organizers, journalists, and affiliated faculty working across multiple academic institutions.
THE CORONER REPORT PROJECT
Death under the U.S. Medical Examiner-Coroner System
The UCLA BioCritical Studies Lab has emerged as a leading authority on lethal police violence in the United States. Using data science, critical forensic analysis, public health research, and legal studies, we have identified critical patterns in how police related deaths are investigated, reported, and addressed. The Coroner Report Project has produced several reports and provided the basis for my book, The Coroner's Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence (Beacon Press, 2025). Click here for the complete roster of BCS lab members.
Target Practice, 1970
Elizabeth Catlett Bronze, 20x14x22 inches
Data and Research Materials
Autopsy Reports Discussed in The Coroner's Silence
Nationwide List of Lost Lives
LA County In-Custody Death Data
(2008-2019)
Research Methodology
Reports
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"Deaths in Dauphin County Prison (Harrisburg, Penn.), 2008-2022"
2024
"In-Custody Deaths in Ten MD Detention Centers, 2008-2019"
2023
"Report: Los Angeles County Jail Deaths 2009"
2023
"Natural Causes? 59 Autopsies Prove Otherwise"
2022
Media
Testimony for the MD State Senate
"Medical examiners impacted by relationships with police, study finds"
Terence Keel on "Tavis Smiley"
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"UCLA Researchers Say More Than Half of 'Natural' LA Jail Deaths Studied Show Evidence Of Physical Harm"
"Study of Inmate Autopsies Renews Call to Close LA County Sheriff’s Men’s Central Jail"
"Study: Deaths of Black and Latino men in LA County jails misclassified"
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"Study: Deaths of Black and Latino Men in LA County Jails Misclassified"
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Collaborators
Helen Jones
Community Activist and Organizer | Robert Wood Johnson IRL Fellow
Jonah Walters
PhD
BCS Lab Postdoctorate Fellow
Lauren Brown PhD, MPH
Gerontologist and Data Scientist| USC
Maggie Woodruff
JD
Legal Scholar and Anthropologist | University of California, Irvine
Aziza Ahmed PhD
Professor of Law | Boston University School of Law
Anna Robinson-Sweet
Information Studies PhD Researcher | University of California, Los Angeles
Carmen Johnson PhD
Founder of Helping Ourselves to Transform
Elizabeth Rossi
Lawyer and Director of Civil Rights Corp's Strategic Initiatives
Partners
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