Scott McAlister

Scott is currently a PhD candidate at the Department for Integrated Critical Care at the University of Melbourne. Scott is investigating the environmental and economic impacts of pathology testing and imaging, so as to quantify the impacts of unnecessary testing. This research includes the use of environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) to determine the impacts of testing, and the creation of a methodology to integrate environmental and economic impacts with health outcomes.
 
Scott originally undertook a BSc in physiology and a MSc in pharmacology at Otago University in New Zealand. In the early 2000s he became interested in sustainability and did further postgraduate study on energy systems and water resource management. He worked as a research fellow at RMIT University for five years performing LCAs, and subsequently started his own consultancy, performing LCAs for a variety of industries including water, chemical, building and agriculture.
 
In 2009 he started undertaking healthcare LCAs, including single use vs. reusable medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, the footprint of Australian healthcare, and the impacts of treating patients undergoing specific treatments.

Scott will provide an overview of what he has achieved in the fields of LCA in anaesthesia, critical care, and pathology. He will discuss the role of the LCA expert in collaborating with clinicians, including mention of expertise, software, and the role of commercial versus open access LCA and he will also summarise how to actually undertake an LCA.