Shaun Pattinson
British legal scholar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shaun D. Pattinson is a British legal scholar specializing in medical law and medical ethics. He currently serves as a Professor of Medical Law and Ethics at Durham Law School, Durham University.[1] In 2011, he founded the Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences (Durham CELLS) at Durham University.[2]
Professor Shaun D. Pattinson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Shaun David Pattinson |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Hull, University of Sheffield |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Law |
| Sub-discipline | Medical law Medical ethics |
| Notable works | Medical Law and Ethics |
| Website | https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/s-d-pattinson |
Education and career
Pattinson earned his undergraduate law degree from the University of Hull. He furthered his studies at the University of Sheffield, obtaining a master's degree and a Ph.D.
He received higher doctorates by the University of Sheffield (LLD) and Durham University. (DLitt).[3]
Pattinson took up a Lectureship in Law at the University of Sheffield in 2000 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2005. He was appointed as a Reader in Law at Durham University in 2006 and was promoted to Professor of Medical Law and Ethics in 2013.[4]
Professional roles and honours
Pattinson has held several notable positions:
- Guest Professor at Tongji University, since 2024.[5]
- Member of the Council of Governors of South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, since 2022.[6]
- Member of the editorial board of The Biologist (the journal of Royal Society of Biology, since 2017.[7]
- Deputy Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, where he also chaired the Horizon Scanning Advisory Group, until 2021.[8]
- Editor of Medical Law International from 2005 to 2011.[9]
His professional recognitions include being a Senior Fellow of the Advance HE (SFHEA), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB).[10]
Research and publications
Pattinson's research interests focus on medical law and medical ethics, including the regulation of emerging technologies. He has authored several books, including:
- Influencing Traits Before Birth (2002).[11]
- Revisiting Landmark Cases in Medical Law (2018).[12]
- Law at the Frontiers of Biomedicine (2023).[13][14]
- Medical Law and Ethics (7th ed., 2025).[15]
His book Medical Law and Ethics received the 2010 Minty Medico-Legal Society Prize for best medico-legal book.[16]
He has also published with Deryck Beyleveld.[17]
Recent work
From 2014 to 2017, Pattinson led a project entitled ‘Human Cloning and Stem Cell Research Through the Medium of Law’, funded by the Wellcome Trust.[18] This involved using law to engage post-16 students in the debate over human cloning, stem cell research and mitochondrial replacement technology.[19][20][21] A finding was that UK school students had been misinformed as to how Dolly (sheep) had been cloned.[22][23]
In January 2023, Pattinson published Law at the Frontiers of Biomedicine, presenting a legal theory termed 'contextual legal idealism'.[24][25] This work explores the regulation of emerging biotechnologies, such as heritable genome editing and cryonic reanimation, and was supported by a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship.[26]