The Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review is pleased to announce that it has retained two leading forensic toxicologists to assist and provide advice to the Independent Reviewer in fulfilling her mandate, one from Australia and the other from Scotland:
- Professor Olaf H. Drummer, FFSC, FRCPA, CChem, PhD (Med), BAppSc(Chem) is a forensic pharmacologist and toxicologist. He is Deputy Director (Academic Programs) at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and Professor and Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, in Melbourne, Australia. Professor Drummer completed his PhD from Melbourne University in 1980, and has been involved in the analysis of drugs and poisons, and the interpretation of their biological effects, for almost 40 years. He has published extensively in the fields of forensic pharmacology and toxicology, including in over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers in journals and in textbooks. He is a past President of the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists and is the inaugural President of the Forensic and Clinical Toxicology Association of Australia and New Zealand. He is also a member of a number of national and international associations.
- Dr. Gail Audrey Ann Cooper, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, CChem, FRSC, FHEA, is an independent Consultant Forensic Toxicologist and Director of Cooper Gold Forensic Consultancy Ltd. based in Scotland. She completed her PhD in Forensic Toxicology at the University of Glasgow in 1999. Dr. Cooper has worked in the field of forensic toxicology for over 15 years, including for seven years within the academic unit of Forensic Medicine and Science at the University of Glasgow where she was Lead Consultant Forensic Toxicologist. She has published numerous peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and is co-editor of a key textbook on Forensic and Analytical Toxicology. She is a Chartered Chemist, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Fellow of the Higher Education Authority and a board member and secretary of both the Society of Hair Testing and the UK and Ireland Association of Forensic Toxicologists.
The Independent Review team has also commenced its consultation process and has conducted preliminary meetings, interviews and communications with various organizations, including representatives of the Hospital for Sick Children, Children’s Aid Societies, the Office of the Children’s Lawyer, representatives of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and Ontario Court of Justice, the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Family Lawyers Association.
The Independent Review team will continue to consult as it carries out its review. Updates respecting the process, including an invitation for submissions, will be posted on the Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review website (www.m-hair.ca).
Interested individuals or organizations who wish to meet with the Independent Review team or make submissions on matters within its mandate should contact Joanna Arvanitis, Executive Coordinator, at 416.646.7499 or joanna.arvanitis@m-hair.ca.