Rate My Professor Adam Pomerleau

Research Associate Professor Adam Pomerleau is the Director of the National Poisons Centre within the University of Otago's Division of Health Sciences. In this capacity, he leads a team providing 24-hour toxicology consultations and poisons information services to healthcare professionals, the public, and emergency services across New Zealand. The Centre, affiliated with the University since its establishment in 1964, plays a critical role in managing poisoning cases and contributing to public health policy. Pomerleau holds the qualifications MD, FACEM, FAACT, and FTAPNA, reflecting his expertise as a medical toxicologist and emergency medicine specialist. Listed in the University's media expertise database under clinical toxicology and poisoning, his professional interests include the overlap between medical toxicology and public health, radiation toxicology, and antidote management. Prior to his current role, he served as Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, with a focus on medical toxicology.

Pomerleau's scholarly output centers on clinical toxicology research pertinent to New Zealand contexts, including poisoning surveillance, treatment protocols, and harm reduction strategies. Notable publications from his University profile include: Yuen, W. Y. R., Pomerleau, A. C., & Liang, J. (2025) 'Acute parenteral poisoning from calcium copper edetate' in Clinical Toxicology; Chiew, A. L. et al. (2025) 'Paracetamol (acetaminophen) poisoning: Consensus definitions of poisoning types and outcomes' in Clinical Toxicology; Kumpula, E.-K. et al. (2024) 'Naloxone use by Aotearoa New Zealand emergency medical services, 2017-2021' in Emergency Medicine Australasia; Kumpula, E.-K. et al. (2023) 'Naloxone use by New Zealand ambulance services in 2017–2021' in Toxicology Communications; and Crossin, R. et al. (2023) 'The New Zealand drug harms ranking study: A multi-criteria decision analysis' in Journal of Psychopharmacology. Additional contributions encompass co-authorship on the 'Updated guidelines for the management of paracetamol poisoning in Australia and New Zealand' (Chiew et al., Medical Journal of Australia, 2020) and analyses of toxicologist consultations and therapeutic errors via the National Poisons Centre. As Editor-in-Chief of TOXINZ, New Zealand's clinical toxicology database, and through committee involvements such as the Medicines Adverse Reactions Committee, he influences national standards in poison management. Pomerleau was promoted to Research Associate Professor effective 1 February 2023.