Loren Pankratz
Loren Pankratz | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 27, 1940 Portland, Oregon U.S. |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | Oregon State University BA 1962 University of Oregon PhD 1968 |
| Known for | Posttraumatic stress disorder Münchausen syndrome by proxy |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Psychology |
| Institutions | Portland VA Medical Center Oregon Health & Science University |
Loren Pankratz (born February 27, 1940) is a consultation psychologist at the Portland VA Medical Center and professor in the department of psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
Following his retirement in 1995, he maintained a forensic practice until 2012. He testified nationally on cases of Münchausen syndrome by proxy (MBP), often defending mothers accused of harming their children.
He has written and lectured on a wide variety of unusual topics such as dancing manias, spiritualism, Greek oracles, ghosts, plagues, historical enigmas, mesmerism, moral panics, con-games, self-deception, faith healing, self-surgery, miracles, ethical blunders, quackery, and renaissance science. He has also published magic history, magic tricks, and mentalism effects in magazines. Pankratz, along with Ray Hyman and Jerry Andrus, was a founding faculty member of the Skeptic's Toolbox in Eugene, Oregon. Pankratz is also a Fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.