Staff profile

Shaun Pattinson joined the Law School in 2006 and was promoted to Professor of Medical Law and Ethics in 2013. He founded Durham CELLS (Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences) in 2011.

Shaun has a law degree from the University of Hull, a master's degree, PhD and higher doctorate (LLD) from the University of Sheffield, and a higher doctorate (DLitt) from Durham University. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB). He has been a visiting scholar at the universities of Helsinki and Maastricht, and was a Leverhulme Major Research Fellow in 2020–22.

At Durham, Shaun has held various administrative roles, including Deputy Dean of School, Director of Postgraduate Research (twice), Director of Durham CELLS (several times), Director of Recruitment, Recruitment lead for biolaw/medical law, REF Mentor, Chair of the LLM Board of Examiners.

Research

Shaun's books include Influencing Traits Before Birth (2002); Revisiting Landmark Cases in Medical Law (2018); Medical Law and Ethics (6th edn, 2020) and Law at the Frontiers of Biomedicine (2023). The first edition of Medical Law and Ethics was supported by an AHRC Research Leave award and the second edition was awarded the 2010 Minty Medico-Legal Society Prize for best medico-legal book. The writing of Law at the Frontiers of Biomedicine was supported by a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship. For reviews of these books see: Johnson 2003; Skene 2004; Harris-Short 2005; Smith 2006; Ryan 2007; McAlister 2015; Brownsword 2023; Freckelton 2023.

Shaun has been awarded research grants by the AHRC, British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, SLS and Wellcome Trust. He has given papers at many UK universities and in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and the US. He edited Medical Law International from July 2005 to July 2011, and is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry and The Biologist. He has advised the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program (CNTRP).

Shaun was Deputy Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which is the closest that the UK has to a national bioethics committee. He was a member for 6 years (until April 2021) and, for the final two years of his term, Deputy Chair of the Council and Chair of the Council's Horizon Scanning Advisory Group. He was one of the seven-member Working Group on Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT), which launched its report  in the Speaker's House in the Palace of Westminster in March 2017, and contributed to the workshop/publication on research on human embryos: Human Embryo Culture.

Shaun is currently a member of the Council of Governors of South Tees NHS Foundation Trust.

Research students

I supervise PhDs on topics within medical law and ethics. Please note that PhDs in Durham usually start in October. See the information here for advice on Durham’s entry requirements and the content of a good PhD proposal. I am happy to provide advice on your draft proposal, but please ensure that it connects in some way to my expertise. I am not an empirical researcher.

Research students - current

• PhD: Beyza Gözde Bıçak (p); Abdurrahman Cakurtaran; Yuxin Li (p); Miranda Wang

Primary supervisions marked with (p)

Research students - successfully completed

• PhD: Thomas Bennett (Senior Lecturer, City), Benedict Douglas (Assistant Professor, Durham); Daniel Fenwick (p) (Senior Lecturer, Northumbria); Marianna Iliadou (p) (Lecturer, Sussex), Joshua Jowitt (Senior Lecturer, Newcastle); Daniel Lowe (Teaching Fellow, Warwick), Oluseyi Olayanju (recently successfully examined); Clayton Ó Néill (p) (Senior Lecturer, QUB); Zoe Tongue (p) (Lecturer, Leeds)
• MJur: Jessica Birch (p); Aileen Editha (p); Daniel Fenwick (p); Elizabeth Gibbison (née Robinson) (p); Chantell Kimpson (née Burrows); Rebecca Lassey (née Blackburn) (p); Connor Wright (p)

• Medical Law
• Moral Theory (especially medical ethics)
• Human Rights

Authored book

• Pattinson, S. D. (2023). Law at the Frontiers of Biomedicine: Creating, Enhancing and Extending Human Life. Hart Publishing
• Pattinson, S. D. (2020). Medical Law and Ethics. (6th ed.). Sweet and Maxwell
• Pattinson, S. D. (2018). Revisiting Landmark Cases in Medical Law. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315750651
• Pattinson, S. D. (2017). Medical Law and Ethics. (5th ed.). Sweet and Maxwell
• Pattinson, S. D. (2014). Medical Law and Ethics. (4th ed.). Sweet and Maxwell
• Pattinson, S. D. (2011). Medical Law and Ethics. (3rd ed.). Sweet and Maxwell
• Pattinson, S. D. (2009). Medical Law and Ethics. (2nd ed.). Sweet and Maxwell
• Pattinson, S. D. (2006). Medical Law and Ethics. Sweet and Maxwell
• Pattinson, S. D. (2002). Influencing Traits Before Birth. Ashgate Publishing

Book review

• Pattinson, S. D. (2007). Review Article: First Do No Harm. Medical Law International, 8(3), 251-276. https://doi.org/10.1177/096853320700800304
• Pattinson, S. D. (2006). Review of Michael Jones and Anne Morris, Blackstone's Statues on Medical Law. Student law review, 67(56),
• Pattinson, S. D. (2001). Review of Andrei Marmor, Positive Law and Objective Values. Legal Studies, 21(4), 697-700

Chapter in book

• Beyleveld, D., & Pattinson, S. D. (2023). Moral Interests, Privacy, and Medical Research. In M. Boylan (Ed.), International Public Health Policy and Ethics (61-73). (2nd). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39973-2_5
• Pattinson, S., & Beyleveld, D. (2023). The Concept of Human Rights in the UDHR and the Rule of Law for the World Today. In M. Dahlin, J. Garland, A. Lind, A. Singer, & S. Slokenberga (Eds.), Festskrift till Elisabeth Rynning: Integritet och rättssäkerhet inom och bortom den medicinska rätten (41–55). Uppsala, Sweden: Iustus
• Beyleveld, D., & Pattinson, S. D. (2023). The Concept of Human Rights in the UDHR and the Rule of Law for the World Today. In M. Dahlin, J. Garland, A. Lind, A. Singer, & S. Slokenberga (Eds.), Festskrift till Elisabeth Rynning: Integritet och rättssäkerhet inom och bortom den medicinska rätten. iUstus
• Pattinson, S. D. (2017). Advance Refusals and the Personal Identity Objection. In P. Capps, & S. D. Pattinson (Eds.), Ethical rationalism and the law (91-108). Hart Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509910014.ch-006
• Pattinson, S. D., & Capps, P. (2017). The Past, Present and Future of Ethical Rationalism. In P. Capps, & S. D. Pattinson (Eds.), Ethical rationalism and the law (1-16). Hart Publishing
• Pattinson, S. D. (2017). Some Comments on Developmental Thresholds and their Moral and Policy Significance. Human Embryo Culture. Nuffield Council on Bioethics
• Pattinson, S. D. (2015). Contemporaneous and Advance Requests: The Fight for Rights at the End of Life. In J. Herring, & J. Wall (Eds.), Landmark cases in medical law (255-269). Hart Publishing
• Pattinson, S. D., & Beyleveld, D. (2010). Confidentiality and Data Protection. In A. Grubb, J. Laing, & J. McHale (Eds.), Principles of medical law (651-723). (3rd). Oxford University Press
• Beyleveld, D., Finnegan, T., & Pattinson, S. D. (2009). The Regulation of Hybrids and Chimeras in the UK. In J. Taupitz, & M. Weschka (Eds.), Chimbrids : chimeras and hybrids in comparative European and international research : scientific, ethical, philosophical and legal aspects (603-825). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-93869-9_25
• Pattinson, S. D. (2008). Prenatal Testing. In P. Cane, & J. Conaghan (Eds.), The new Oxford companion to law. Oxford University Press
• Beyleveld, D., & Pattinson, S. D. (2008). Moral Interests, Privacy and Medical Research. In M. Boylan (Ed.), International public health policy and ethics (45-57). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8617-5_4
• Pattinson, S. D. (2008). Reproductive Cloning. In P. Cane, & J. Conaghan (Eds.), The New Oxford Companion to Law (1013-1014). Oxford University Press
• Pattinson, S. D., & Beyleveld, D. (2007). Landesbericht Grossbritannien. In A. Eser, H. Koch, & C. Seith (Eds.), Internationale Perspektiven zu Status und Schutz des extrakorporalen: International Perspectives on the Status and Protection of the Extracorporeal Embryo (171-203). Nomos
• Pattinson, S. D. (2005). Designing Donors. In J. Gunning, & S. Holm (Eds.), Ethics, Law and Society (251-256). Ashgate Publishing
• Pattinson, S. D., & Beyleveld, D. (2004). Individual Rights, Social Justice, and the Allocation of Advances in Biotechnology. In M. Boylan (Ed.), Public Health, Policy and Ethics (59-72). Kluwer International
• Beyleveld, D., & Pattinson, S. (2004). Globalisation and Human Dignity: Some Effects and Implications for the Creation and Use of Embryos. In R. Brownsword (Ed.), Global Governance and the Quest for Justice Volume IV: Human Rights. (185-202.). Hart Publishing
• Pattinson, S. D. (2003). Current Legislation in Europe. In J. Gunning, & H. Szoke (Eds.), The Regulation of Assisted Reproductive Technology (7-19). Ashgate Publishing
• Pattinson, S. D., & Beyleveld, D. (2001). Embryo Research in the UK: Is Harmonisation in the EU Needed or Possible?. In M. Friele (Ed.), Embryo Experimentation in Europe (58-74). European Academy
• Pattinson, S. D., & Beyleveld, D. (2000). Precautionary Reason as a Link to Moral Action. In M. Boylan (Ed.), Medical ethics (39-53). Pearson
• Beyleveld, D., & Pattinson, S. (2000). Legal Regulation of Assisted Procreation, Genetic Diagnosis and Gene Therapy. In D. Beyleveld, & H. Haker (Eds.), The ethics of genetics in human procreation (215-276). Ashgate Publishing

Edited book

• Pattinson, S. D., & Capps, P. (Eds.). (2017). Ethical Rationalism and the Law. Hart Publishing

Journal Article

• Pattinson, S. D., & Kind, V. (2018). No Uncertain Terms. Biologist (London), 65(5), 6-7
• Pattinson, S. D., & Kind, V. (2017). Using a Moot to Develop Students’ Understanding of Human Cloning and Statutory Interpretation. Medical Law International, 17(3), 111-133. https://doi.org/10.1177/0968533217726350
• Gerke, S., & Pattinson, S. D. (2017). EU Marketing Authorisation of Orphan Medicinal Products and Its Impact on Related Research. European Journal of Health Law, 24(5), 541-564. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718093-12341439
• Pattinson, S. D. (2015). The Human Rights Act and the Doctrine of Precedent. Legal Studies, 35(1), 142-164. https://doi.org/10.1111/lest.12049
• Pattinson, S. D. (2012). Emergency Research and the Interests of Participants. Medical Law International, 12(2), 121-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/0968533212465615
• Pattinson, S. D. (2012). The Value of Bodily Material: Acquiring and Allocating Human Gametes. Medical Law Review, 20(4), 576-603. https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fws005
• Pattinson, S. D. (2011). Directed donation and ownership of human organs. Legal Studies, 31(3), 392-410. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-121x.2011.00195.x
• Pattinson, S. D., & Beyleveld, D. (2010). Defending Moral Precaution as a Solution to the Problem of Other Minds: A Reply to Holm and Coggon. Ratio Juris: An international journal of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law, 23(2), 258-273. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9337.2010.00453.x
• Caulfield, T., Pattinson, S. D., & authors, 2. A. (2009). International stem cell environments: a world of difference. Nature reports. Stem cells, https://doi.org/10.1038/stemcells.2009.61
• Pattinson, S. D. (2009). Consent and informational responsibility. Journal of Medical Ethics, 35(3), 176-179. https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.2008.026401
• Pattinson, S. D. (2008). Organ Trading, Tourism, and Trafficking within Europe. Medicine and law, 27(1),
• Caulfield, T., Pattinson, S. D., & authors, 2. A. (2007). Stem Cell Research Ethics: Consensus Statement on Emerging Issues. Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology Canada, October, 843-848. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1701-2163%2816%2932632-9
• Pattinson, S. D., & Beyleveld, D. (2006). Amending the Clinical Trials Regulations 2004. Medical law monitor, 13(5), 2-5
• Pattinson, S. D., & Beyleveld, D. (2006). Medical Research into Emergency Treatment: Regulatory Tensions in England and Wales. Web journal of current legal issues, 5,
• Pattinson, S. D., & Harpwood, V. (2006). Change and Continuity. Medical Law International, 7(3), 181-182
• Pattinson, S. D. (2006). FIGO Committee for the Ethical Aspects of Human Reproduction and Women's Health: Editorial Introduction. Medical Law International, 7(4),
• Pattinson, S. D. (2005). Some Problems Challenging the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. Medicine and law, 24(2), 391-401
• Pattinson, S. D., & Caulfield, T. (2004). Variations and voids: the regulation of human cloning around the world. BMC Medical Ethics, 5, https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6939-5-9
• Pattinson, S. D. (2003). Paying Living Organ Providers. Web journal of current legal issues, 3,
• Pattinson, S. D. (2002). 'Reproductive Cloning: Can Cloning Harm the Clone?'. Medical Law Review, 10(3), 295-307. https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/10.3.295
• Pattinson, S. D., & Beyleveld, D. (2002). 'Horizontal Applicability and Horizontal Effect'. Law Quarterly Review, 118, 623-646
• Pattinson, S. D. (2002). Undue influence in the context of medical treatment. Medical Law International, 5(4), 305-317. https://doi.org/10.1177/096853320200500404
• Pattinson, S. D. (2000). Regulating Germ-Line Gene Therapy to Avoid Sliding Down the Slippery Slope. Medical Law International, 4(3 & 4), 213-222
• Pattinson, S. D. (1999). Wrongful Life Actions as a Means of Regulating Use of Genetic and Reproductive Technologies. Health law journal, 7, 19-34

Manual

• Pattinson, S. D., Kind, V., Douglas, B., & Howell, M. (2017). Human Cloning Activity Pack
• Pattinson, S. D., Kind, V., Douglas, B., & Howell, M. (2017). Stem Cell Research Activity Pack
• Pattinson, S. D., Kind, V., & Douglas, B. (2017). Ethics Activity Pack

Other (Print)

• Pattinson, S. D., Douglas, B., & Kind, V. (2015). Using Law to Develop Post-16 Students’ Understanding of Stem Cell Research
• Pattinson, S. D. (2010). What's Interesting About Medical Law?
• Pattinson, S. D. (2007). Stem Cells. The Ethical Issues
• Pattinson, S. D. (1998). Second Conference of the European Network for Biomedical Ethics: Genetics in Human Reproduction

Presentation

• Pattinson, S. D. (2022, December). The Future of Heritable Genome Editing: Law and Equality. Paper presented at Durham CELLS and Law & Philosophy Seminar
• Pattinson, S. D. (2022, December). The Future of Heritable Genome Editing. Paper presented at 14th World Conference on Bioethics, Medical Ethics and Health Law,, Porto, Portugal
• Pattinson, S. D. (2019, December). Bioethics by Committee. Paper presented at SLS Annual Conference 2019, Preston
• Pattinson, S. D. (2022, December). Some Human Rights and Equality Issues Raised by the Genome Editing of Embryos. Paper presented at SLSA Annual Conference 2022, Hybrid (York and online)
• Pattinson, S. D. (2021, December). Legal Academia. Paper presented at Live Webinar, University of Hull
• Pattinson, S. D. (2021, December). Understanding Ethics: Bioethics and AI. Paper presented at Live Webinar, DeepMind
• Pattinson, S. D. (2019, December). Tony Bland as a 'Novel Being'. Paper presented at Novel Beings in the Humanities, Newcastle University
• Pattinson, S. D. (2017, December). Revisiting Landmark Cases in Medical Law: R v Adams. Paper presented at [Keynote Paper] SLS Annual Conference 2017, Dublin, Ireland
• Pattinson, S. D. (2017, December). Canada’s Role in Advancing Transplantation and Donation: Ethics and Policy. Paper presented at CNTRP Annual Scientific Conference, Mont-Tremblant, QC, Canada
• Pattinson, S. D., Douglas, B., & Kind, V. (2017, December). Teaching Controversial Issues: A Law-in-Action Workshop on Stem Cell Research for Post-16 Students. Paper presented at [2 x 1 hour papers] ASE Annual Conference, University of Reading
• Pattinson, S. D. (2016, December). Using a Moot to Develop Students' Understanding of Human Cloning and Statutory Interpretation. Paper presented at SLS Annual Conference 2016, University of Oxford
• Pattinson, S. D. (2016, December). Some Comments on Developmental Thresholds and their Moral and Policy Significance. Paper presented at Workshop: Statutory Time Limit for Maintaining Human Embryos in Culture, NCOB, London
• Pattinson, S. D. (2016, December). Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ work on NIPT so far. Paper presented at Non-invasive Prenatal Testing: The Challenges for Public Health, Law and Ethics, Bournemouth University
• Pattinson, S. D. (2015, December). Advance Refusals and the Personal Identity Objection. Paper presented at Ethical Rationalism and the Law, Durham Castle
• Pattinson, S. D., & Kind, V. (2015, December). Developing Understanding of Stem Cell Research: Results of a Law-in-action Workshop with Post-16 Students. Paper presented at Invited paper, University of Sheffield
• Pattinson, S. D. (2014, December). The Ethics of Stem Cell Research. Paper presented at Matariki Workshop on Research Ethics, University of Tübingen, Germany
• Pattinson, S. D. (2013, December). The Human Rights Act and the Doctrine of Precedent. Paper presented at Staff seminar paper, Durham University
• Pattinson, S. D. (2012, December). Emergency Research: Law & Policy in the UK. Paper presented at Emergency research: when consent might kill you, London
• Pattinson, S. D. (2012, December). Acquiring and Allocating Human Gametes. Paper presented at Invited paper, Maastricht University, the Netherlands
• Pattinson, S. D. (2012, December). Legally and Ethically Addressing the Shortage of Human Gametes. Paper presented at Invited paper, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
• Pattinson, S. D. (2012, December). Bringing Stem Cell Research to Clinical Application. Paper presented at Regulating Research in the Life Sciences in a Globalised World: Case Studies, Durham University
• Pattinson, S. D. (2011, December). Research Ethics in Biomedicine: Commercialisation and Commodification. Paper presented at Research ethics in the life sciences, University of Tübingen, Germany
• Pattinson, S. D. (2011, December). Donor Autonomy and the Allocation of Donated Organs for Transplantation. Paper presented at Issues in Biosciences: Regulation and Social Impact, Durham University
• Pattinson, S. D. (2010, December). Directed Donation and Ownership of Human Organs. Paper presented at Invited paper, University of Hull
• Pattinson, S. D. (2010, December). Deceased Organ Donation: Conditional and Directed Donation. Paper presented at 18th World Congress on Medical Law, Zagreb, Croatia
• Pattinson, S. D. (2009, December). Response to the Stem Cell Conundrum and Mapping Global Distributions of hES Cell Lines. Paper presented at Lay of the Land, Montreal, Canada
• Pattinson, S. D. (2008, December). Consent: Informational Symmetry and Asymmetry. Paper presented at Invited paper, Birkbeck, University of London
• Pattinson, S. D. (2007, December). The Legal Aspects of Organ Tourism, from a European Perspective. Paper presented at 13th Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation, Prague, Czech Republic
• Pattinson, S. D. (2007, December). Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Some Regulatory Tensions. Paper presented at Invited paper, PEALS, University of Newcastle
• Pattinson, S. D. (2007, December). Some Thoughts on Registration of Clinical Trials Involving Human Stem Cell Therapies. Paper presented at Invited paper, Montreal, Canada
• Pattinson, S. D. (2006, December). Cloning and Judicial Reasoning
• Pattinson, S. D. (2004, December). Response to Dignity as Constraint. Paper presented at Invited paper, Montreal, Canada
• Pattinson, S. D. (2004, December). An Evaluation of the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. Paper presented at 15th World Congress on Medical Law, Syndey, Australia
• Pattinson, S. D. (2004, December). The Role of Dignity in the Cloning Debate. Paper presented at Invited paper, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Washington, United States
• Pattinson, S. D. (2004, December). Cloning and Human Dignity. Paper presented at Invited paper, University of Helsinki, Finland
• Pattinson, S. D. (2003, December). Human Cloning: The Legal Position. Paper presented at European Medical Students Association (EMSA), University of Sheffield
• Pattinson, S. D. (2003, December). Paying Living Organ Providers. Paper presented at Invited paper, University of Helsinki, Finland
• Pattinson, S. D. (2003, December). Globalisation, Commerce and Human Organs. Paper presented at Global Governance and the Search for Global Justice, University of Sheffield
• Pattinson, S. D. (2003, December). The Donor as Vendor. Paper presented at Lent Lecture Series, Centre of Medical Law and Ethics, King's College, University of London
• Pattinson, S. D. (2002, December). Undue Influence in the Context of Medical Treatment. Paper presented at Invited paper, University of Sheffield
• Pattinson, S. D. (2002, December). Reproductive Cloning: Can Cloning Harm the Clone?. Paper presented at 14th World Congress on Medical Law, Maastricht, the Netherlands
• Pattinson, S. D. (2001, December). Floodgates and Slippery Slopes in Legal Argumentation. Paper presented at Society for Public Teachers of Law (SPTL) Conference, Glasgow
• Pattinson, S. D. (2000, December). Regulating Germ-line Gene Therapy to Avoid Sliding Down the Slippery Slope. Paper presented at 13th World Congress on Medical Law, Helsinki, Finland
• Pattinson, S. D. (1999, December). Legal Regulation of Assisted Procreation, Genetic Diangosis and Gene Therapy. Paper presented at Third Conference of the European Network of Biomedical Ethics, University of Sheffield
• Pattinson, S. D. (1998, December). The Moral Status of Non-human Animals. Paper presented at Invited paper, Centre for Social Ethics and Policy, University of Manchester

Report

• Shakespeare, T., Bryant, L., Clancy, T., Clarke, A., Deans, Z., Pattinson, S., & Walker, C. (2017). Non-invasive Prenatal Testing: Ethical Issues. [No known commissioning body]