Faculty & Staff:
George J. Annas, JD, MPH
William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor and Chair
Wendy K. Mariner, JD, LLM, MPH
Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law
Michael A. Grodin, MD
Professor of Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights
Nicole Huberfeld, JD
Professor of Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights
Michael Ulrich, JD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights
Gin
a Duong, MPA
Administrative Manager
Jesse Walsh, MPH
Academic Coordinator
Description:
Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights are complementary disciplines for defining and analyzing how the public's health can and should be most effectively protected. Public health embodies enduring principles of justice, bioethics and human rights, while evolving to meet new public health challenges like bioterrorism, H1N1 influenza, the Haiti earthquake, and obesity. All students in the Center will explore this dynamic interaction in a wide range of public health programs such as public health preparedness, mandatory vaccination, genetic testing, DNA banks and privacy, advertising and regulating dangerous consumer products, preventing workplace hazards, screening for chronic diseases as well as illicit drugs, emergency medical care, patient safety, caring for ill and dying patients, protecting children, responding to mental illness, defining changing family structures and reproductive rights, reforming health insurance, and conducting biomedical research. The Center provides students with the critical thinking, writing, verbal and research skills that are essential to be an effective advocate for the health of populations. These skills, together with the knowledge gained from coursework, prepare students to work in government agencies, health care institutions, advocacy groups and non-governmental organizations, and, for those wish to pursue their education further, provide a foundation for specialized academic training in law, ethics or human rights. The department faculty members participate in numerous scholarly, professional, and practice activities to advance the use of law, ethics, and human rights to enhance the health, safety and well-being of populations. The department's teaching and research activities explore individual rights and governmental authority to protect health and the potential conflicts between individual rights and governmental action, especially in the realms of constitutional law and international human rights law.
