Emeritus Professor Ian Shaw DSc, PhD, FRCPath is an experienced toxicologist and science communicator held in high esteem nationally and internationally.

Ian has written expert reports and reviewed data for numerous product license applications for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals companies internationally, and has advised on the development of new products and designed toxicology testing strategies as part of risk/benefit assessments.

Ian headed two key food residues testing laboratories in the UK and NZ and directly reported and commented on their findings to ministers and government officials. He chaired the UK Pesticide Residues Committee and was a member of NZ’s Food Safety Advisory Board. His book, Food Safety is in 2nd edition and is highly regarded internationally.

Ian began his career briefly as a forensic scientist before starting his PhD. He developed the forensic science course at Lancashire University in 1998 and in 2021 created forensic science for criminal justice at UC. He has been an expert witness in forensic toxicology cases, including a poisoning at work in Chicago, USA and a horse doping case in NZ. His book, Forensic Science – the Science Behind the Truth was published in 2025.

Ian is an enthusiastic science writer for lay readers. He writes regularly for The Press on subjects ranging from science fraud through the Litvinenko plutonium poisoning to the treatment of prostate cancer. He has written many reports for the pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals industries. He was awarded the New Zealand Association of Scientists’ Communication Medal in 2009.