Barbara Hales received her M.Sc. in Pharmacognosy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and her Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Therapeutics from McGill University. She was awarded an FRSQ postdoctoral fellowship and then took up an appointment at McGill University in 1979, where she is currently Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Dr. Hales’ research interests focus on mechanisms of action of drugs as teratogens. She studies developmental toxicity using a combination of in vivo, in vitro, and molecular approaches with the goal of elucidating how the embryo responds to insult after direct or maternal exposure and the consequences to progeny of paternal drug exposure.

At McGill University, Dr. Hales has been actively involved in teaching undergraduate, graduate, dental and medical students. She has chaired the Graduate Studies Committee of her Department, served on the University Senate, and been President of the McGill Association of University Teachers. Barbara has served on numerous funding agency peer review committees, as a Section Editor (Developmental Pharmacology) for Teratology, and on the Editorial Board of Reproductive Toxicology. She was a member of the Organizing Committee of the International Congress of Toxicology held in Montreal in July 2007. Barbara is active in the Society of Toxicology of Canada (past President) and the Teratology Society (Vice-President Elect), in addition to IUTOX.