Cover-Ups, Campaigning & Conservation With Dr Iain McGill

This week, we have a fantastic chat with Iain McGill! We discuss his fascinating career including his work spearheading an investigation into the BSE (Mad Cow Disease) crisis, his short stint filmmaking in India, his efforts in animal conservation and campaigning against the badger cull in the UK.

Iain trained at King’s College London in neuroscience before qualifying at the RVC. Working initially as a clinician for the Blue Cross, he transferred to a government research role for MAFF, investigating bovine neuropathological disease with a focus on BSE and other prion diseases. He continued research on the molecular biology of prions at the Institute of Psychiatry. Iain worked with Dispatches and Channel 4 to blow the whistle on the BSE cover-up. 

He has worked in phytotherapeutics - researching novel candidates for medicinal compounds derived from plants. Whilst at ZSL, he performed disease risk analysis (DRA) for the recovery of UK endangered species including red kites, dormice, cirl buntings, field crickets and for the re-introduction of the pool frog. Since 2012, Iain has focused on publishing scientific evidence on bovine TB in cattle and other species, campaigning against the badger cull and for animal protection. He continues to see clinical cases and is setting up the PVA (Progressive Veterinary Association).