David L. Ranson

I am a Medical Practitioner, Specialist Forensic Pathologist and the Head of Forensic Services at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Melbourne, Australia.

As a Medical Death Investigator I am involved with a wide range of Coroners death investigations including homicide investigations as well as workplace deaths and deaths occuring in the setting of medical treatment and health care. At the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash University I help manage the medical law program for the medical school as well as teaching in the masters program in forensic medicine.

Communication in Medicine, Science and Law is particularly important to me and I provide script and research advice to fiction authors including film and television script writers.

My Institute also operates a strong international program in conjunction with international and national partners. We provide postgraduate training in forensic medicine, pathology and science in many countries around the world and support trainees studying these disciplines in Melbourne. In addition we provide a range of specialist forensic medical and scientific services and consultancies. These include disaster victim identification, human rights investigations and criminal investigations particularly with respect to offences against the person.

The VIFM employs forensic pathologists, forensic physicians, forensic odontologists, forensic anthropologists, forensic entomologists, forensic molecular biologists, forensic toxicologists, forensic radiologists and forensic technical support staff who manage mortuary science and imaging activities.

I am also the medical director of the Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria at the Institute providing ethically sourced human tissues for therapeutic transplantation and medical research.

Despite my professional and academic qualifications in law and medicine I try to maintain a range of non professional interests including; choral singing, classical music, vintage hifi and amateur radio.