calum-mackellar
Calum MacKellar, PhD
Director of Research

Scottish Council on Human Bioethics
Edinburgh, UK
Phone: +44 131 447-6394
E-mail: calum.mackellar@schb.org.uk

Education

1987-1990 Doctorate in Biochemistry University of Stuttgart, Germany
1984-1987 Postgraduate diploma in Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering European High Institute of Chemistry, University of Strasbourg, France
1982-1984 Completed first two years of degree in Chemical Engineering Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland

Biography

Dr. MacKellar, after completing his Diplome d'Ingénieure in bio-organic chemistry with the European High Institute of Chemistry, now part of the University of Strasbourg, in France and his doctorate in Biochemistry with the University of Stuttgart in Germany. He began working in 1991 with the University of Edinburgh and then in industry in Scotland synthesising new kinds of DNA to be used as possible medicinal drugs.

In 1997, he began teaching biological chemistry and bioethics at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, returning to Strasbourg in France, in 2001, to work as a senior civil servant with the Bioethics Division of the Council of Europe.

In 2003, Dr. MacKellar came back to Scotland as the Director of Research of the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics. Since 2010, he has also been a Visiting Lecturer and Visiting Professor in bioethics at St Mary’s University in London.


Research Interest

  • Medical Ethics
  • Bioethics
  • Technology Ethics

Scientific Activities

Teaching Experience
2010-Present Visiting Lecturer and Visiting Professor of Bioethics, St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, UK
2003-Present Director of Research-Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, Scottish charity in Edinburgh, UK
2001-2003 Senior Civil Servant with the Bioethics Division, Directorate General of Legal Affairs-Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France
1997-2001 Visiting/Associate Lecturer in Biological Chemistry and Bioethics, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK
1993-1997 Research and Development Associate in the synthesis of new kinds of genetic pharmaceuticals, Link Technologies Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland
Professional Activities
2011-Present Member of the Ethics Master Curriculum Advisory Committee, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2013-Present Member of the Mason Institute for Medicine, Life Science and the Law, School of Law, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
2005-2014 Official observer to the Cross-Party Group on Mental Health of the Scottish Parliament
2005-2013 Member of the Cross-Party Group on Palliative Care of the Scottish Parliament
2012 Member of the Advisory Board, Centre for Bioethics & Emerging Technologies, St Mary's University, Twickenham, London, UK
2007-2008 Director of the Waterside Trust which gives grants of more than £ 2.2 million/year to charities
2005 Co-ordinator of the first Biomedical Ethics Film Festival in the world

Publications

  1. C.MacKellar; Untersuchung zur Synthese Antimykotisch Aktiver Cobalamin-Komplexe mit N-Substituierten Imidazolen; Doctoral Thesis, University of Stuttgart, 1990.
  2. O.Muller, C.MacKellar; 4,5-Disubstituted imidazoles as antimycotics or fungicides; Patent: Ger.Offen. DE             4,033,042 (Cl.A61K31/415) 18 Oct 1990.
  3. C.MacKellar, G.Duncan, D.Will, S.Burgess, T.Brown; Synthesis and physical properties of anti-HIV             antisense oligonucleotides bearing terminal lipophilic groups; Nucleic Acids Res. 1992, 20(13), 3411-17.
  4. N.Gibson, C.MacKellar, T.Brown; The stability and conformation of duplex DNA containing the novel             Anti-HIV drug ADRT, Biomedical Peptides, Proteins & Nucleic Acids, 1996, Vol.2, 23-26.
  5. C. MacKellar; NASA goes back to old technology in new craft for astronauts, The Daily Express (29.8.1998).
  6. C.MacKellar, M.Hanlon; Meteors blackout threat to satellites, The Daily Express (2.9.1998).
  7. M.Hanlon, C.MacKellar; Did life start in deep sea volcanoes?, The Daily Express (10.9.1998).
  8. C.MacKellar; Vive le Journalisme, Vive la Science; Science and Public Affairs, February, 2000.
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