Originally trained as a clinical psychologist, Dr. Hanson was a researcher with Public Safety Canada between 1991 and 2017, and is now President of SAARNA: The Society for the Advancement of Actuarial Risk Need Assessment. His research concerns risk assessment and rehabilitation for individuals in the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems, with a particular focus on individuals with a history of sexual offending. He has a strong interest in the statistical methods used to quantify risk and to evaluate change over time, and is author of Prediction statistics for psychological assessment (2022).