A Killer Night in The Pub: Forensic Medicine and Toxicology

Rafael has a pharmacy degree and an unusual professional trajectory, as his main experiences lie in both health economics and forensic toxicology. In the field of forensic toxicology, he worked in the police in Brazil for around 4 years where he handled over 2000 cases that required forensic toxicology analysis, most of them related to seized drugs and post- and ante-mortem toxicology. These cases included homicide, drug facilitated crime (involving drugs commonly known as date-rape drugs), and even the toxicological investigation of the murder of a giraffe! During his PhD he worked with microextraction methods for sample preparation, more specifically hollow-fiber liquid phase microextraction. These methods allow for laboratories to use much less solvent, being economical and environmentally friendly.

Sophie’s interest in forensic toxicology dates to her undergraduate degree. If it weren’t for forensic toxicology she would not be where she is now. Her main interest is endogenous molecules that are used for both illicit and medicinal purposes but also the detection of drugs in alternative matrices, such as oral fluid. She uses this, and her experience as forensic toxicologist with the Scottish Police Authority, to enthuse her students the University of the West of Scotland and is keen to share her passion for forensic science and the secrets of the human body with you tonight.

John is a nominally retired forensic pathologist who was latterly based at the University of Glasgow and who performed many thousands of medico-legal post mortem examinations in the Strathclyde region and beyond. He has additionally been much involved in international forensic work for various international bodies, both humanitarian and criminal, including war crimes investigations in the Balkans and Africa. He remains active in teaching and training, both here and abroad, and has a particular interest in forensic medical history.
The University department in Glasgow benefited greatly from a long and close relationship between pathology and toxicology, the two specialities being very much inter-dependent. This enabled a better understanding of, for instance, mechanisms of death from alcohol and drugs, from fires and from whatever other misfortune might have come a person’s way.