Professor Marie Therese Jane Cassidy was appointed state pathologist

State Pathologist's Office

The State Pathologist's Office is a branch of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in the Republic of Ireland. The function of the State Pathologist's Office is to provide advice on matters relating to forensic pathology and to perform post-mortem examinations in homicide cases...

 in the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 in January, 2004. She succeeded Dr John Harbison.

Her previous jobs included writing a novel which is due to be published in late 2010. She promoted her book in Summer 2010. Other previous jobs included Deputy State Pathologist and the professorship of forensic medicine in the University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

. She is also Professor of Forensic Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

. She has acted as a consultant to the television crime series Taggart

Taggart

Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network...

. In the book "The Human Body", there is a character based on her life story.

She was born in a church in Rutherglen

Rutherglen

Rutherglen is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1975, it lost its own local council and administratively became a component of the City of Glasgow. In 1996 Rutherglen was reallocated to the South Lanarkshire council area.-History:...

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

in 1959. She is married with two children.