Rate My Professor Robin Slaughter

Robin J. Slaughter, BSc, serves as a Poisons Information Specialist at the National Poisons Centre within the University of Otago's Division of Health Sciences in Dunedin, New Zealand. He is a long-serving staff member, highlighted in the Centre's 60th anniversary celebrations in 2025 as part of a team of four with a combined 88 years of experience. The National Poisons Centre, established in 1964, provides a 24/7 poisons information service, fielding around 25,000 calls annually from health professionals and the public on poisonings, overdoses, and exposures. Slaughter contributes to toxicovigilance efforts, monitoring trends in poisoning enquiries, which have influenced public health policies such as regulations on high-pH dishwasher powders to prevent child injuries. Core staff like Slaughter hold health-related degrees in fields such as pharmacology or toxicology and undergo intensive training in poisoning management, supported by medical toxicologists for complex cases.

Slaughter's academic interests center on clinical toxicology, poisoning, and emergency medicine, with research addressing New Zealand-specific hazards including venomous creatures, poisonous plants, paediatric exposures, and substances like ketamine, cannabis, tutin in honey, sodium hypochlorite, gamma-hydroxybutyrate, synthetic cannabinoids, nicotine products, and Toxicodendron dermatitis. His key publications include 'The clinical toxicology of ketamine' (2023, Clinical Toxicology), detailing pharmacokinetics, mechanisms of toxicity, and management strategies; 'The clinical toxicology of cannabis' (2020, New Zealand Medical Journal); 'Poisoning due to tutin in honey—a report of an outbreak in New Zealand' (2018); 'Poisonous plants in New Zealand: a review of those most commonly enquired about to the National Poisons Centre' (2012, New Zealand Medical Journal); 'The clinical toxicology of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, gamma-butyrolactone and 1,4-butanediol' (2012, Clinical Toxicology, cited 261 times); 'Paediatric poisoning due to nicotine replacement therapy products: an emerging hazard' (2014); and 'Dermatitis due to Toxicodendron plants: a common occurrence during autumn' (2017). With 2,278 total citations, an H-index of 18, and 24 i10-index publications, Slaughter's contributions have advanced the understanding and management of poisonings. He has also supported the TOXINZ database, a worldwide gold-standard resource with data on over 125,000 substances used in more than 33 countries.