Shane McKee is a consultant Clinical Geneticist in Belfast Northern Ireland. His areas of clinical expertise are in the diagnosis and management of genetic disorders, including childhood dysmorphic syndromes, neurogenetics and cancer genetics. He has written and co-authored a number of papers on genetic topics, and his MD thesis was on genetic epilepsy.

He is involved in teaching genetics to medical students and other health professionals, as well as enhancing the appreciation of evolutionary biology and its many contributions to medicine.

The so-called "culture wars" of science versus creationism / "intelligent design" are important in Northern Ireland right now. Several prominent politicians (as well as some not-so-prominent wannabe hardliners) in our fledgling democracy have declared that they wish to see "equality of treatment" between evolution and creationism within our school system. An increasing number of scientists, doctors, teachers, parents and others are lining up to make sure that creationist pseudoscience is taught in its proper context - Religious Education - alongside the creation myths of other cultures such as the Egyptians, the Maya, the Greeks, etc.

Shane is passionate about the culture and history of Ancient Egypt, one of the most impressive civilisations the world has ever seen. He is currently studying for a Certificate in Egyptology by Distance Learning at the University of Manchester. Every now and again he tries to learn Arabic, but it's slow going. Apparently you need to do more than just wear the keffiyeh.

Here are a few random snippets and tit-bits which may or may not interest you: they're really just included for historical interest.

Shane occasionally describes himself as a "Christian atheist", which can take a bit of explaining, especially to Christians and atheists. When he was a medical student, he undertook an elective in Nazareth in Israel, which changed his views on religion quite radically. He enjoys sailing, listening to country music and spending time with his wife and beautiful kids.

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