Professor Wayne McLaughlin

Professor Wayne McLaughlin is the Director of Caribbean Genetics (CARIGEN) and former Director of Caribbean Toxicology (CARITOX) at The UWI, Mona, both of which forensic laboratories.  He currently serves as the co-chair of the UWI Medicinal Cannabis Research Group, Board Director of the Scientific Research Council, the Cannabis Licensing Authority and the International Centre for Nuclear Sciences.  In 2022 he was appointed to the Executive Advisory Committee of the National Commission on Science and Technology. 

Professor McLaughlin developed the University of the West Indies, Mona MSc Forensic Science programme in 2010/2011 and the Post Graduate Diploma programme in 2015/2016. He has served as an expert witness in several cases in the Jamaican Supreme and Court of Appeal. He was also the first to use Y-STR DNA analysis in DNA case work in Jamaica. In academia he has contributed to a diverse and productive research has published over 40 original and review papers in local, regional and international journals. 

He has received a number of awards, including two Fulbright Fellowships, the Scientific Council Award for Best Scientific Performance and the Silver Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica for outstanding merit in the field of Science.  He received the Gleaner Award for Science and Technology twice and was nominated for the National Medal for Science & Technology.