Annual Health Law Conference

Annual Health Law Conference

Save the Date for the Center for Health Policy and Law’s Annual Conference
April 18, 2025 | 8:15 AM to 5:00 PM

Three Years After Dobbs
— The Reproductive Justice Landscape

Keynote:
KHIARA M. BRIDGES
Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law

Khiara M. Bridges is a professor of law at UC Berkeley School of Law. She has written many articles concerning race, class, reproductive rights, and the intersection of the three. Her scholarship has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, the California Law Review, the NYU Law Review and the Virginia Law Review, among others. She is also the author of three books: Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization (2011), The Poverty of Privacy Rights (2017) and Critical Race Theory: A Primer (2019). She is a coeditor of a reproductive justice book series that is published under the imprint of the University of California Press.

She graduated as valedictorian from Spelman College, receiving her degree in three years. She received her JD from Columbia Law School and her PhD, with distinction, from Columbia University’s Department of Anthropology. While in law school, she was a teaching assistant for the former dean, David Leebron (Torts), as well as for the late E. Allan Farnsworth (Contracts). She was a member of the Columbia Law Review and a Kent Scholar. She speaks fluent Spanish and basic Arabic, and she is a classically trained ballet dancer.

 

 

 

 

  • Center for Health Policy and Law’s Annual Conference
    April 12, 2024
    The Future of Health Equity After the End of Affirmative Action

    Keynote speaker

    Dr. Michelle A. Williams
    Renowned epidemiologist, award-winning educator and widely recognized academic leader

    Biography
    Dr. Michelle A. Williams recently stepped down as dean of the faculty at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health after seven years, and is currently spending a sabbatical year as a visiting professor at Stanford University. Following her sabbatical, she will return to the Harvard Chan School as the Joan and Julius Jacobson Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health. Prior to becoming dean, she was professor and chair of the department of epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School and program leader of the population health and health disparities research programs at Harvard’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Center.

    Dr. Williams previously had a distinguished career at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Her research places special emphasis in the areas of reproductive, perinatal, pediatric and molecular epidemiology. She has published more than 520 scientific articles and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2016. In 2020, Dr. Williams was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and recognized by PR Week as one of the top 50 health influencers of the year. Dr. Williams has an undergraduate degree in biology and genetics from Princeton University, a master’s in civil engineering from Tufts University and master’s and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from the Harvard Chan School.

    >> Download the flyer

    Annual Health Law Conference
    The Future of Health Equity After the End of Affirmative Action
     
    April 12, 2024
    Morning Session
    JOHN D. O’BRYANT AFRICAN AMERICAN INSTITUTE CABRAL CENTER, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY, 40 LEON STREET, BOSTON
    8:15 AM
    Doors Open – Light Breakfast
    8:45 – 9:00 AM
    Welcome
     
    James Hackney, Dean, Northeastern University School of Law

    Wendy E. Parmet, Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law

    Mehreen N. Butt, Managing Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law
    9:00 – 10:30 AM
    Keynote Speaker
    Michelle Williams, Joan and Julius Jacobson Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    The Supreme Court’s Affirmative Ruling: Impacts on Health Equity and Public Health
    11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
    Plenary Session: Paper Presentations
     
    “Understanding Structural Racism: How Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard College is Bad for Public Health and Undercuts Efforts to Achieve Racial Health Equity”

    Dr. April Shaw, Network for Public Health Law
     
    “Addressing Racial Inequalities in the Wake of the Affirmative Action Cases: The Public Health Landscape”

    Sabrina Adler, ChangeLab Solutions; Lindsey Wiley, UCLA Law; and Ruqaiijah Yearby, Moritz College of Law
     
    Commentators 
    Jennifer Lea Huer, Northeastern University School of Law
    Renée Landers, Suffolk University School of Law
     
    Moderator
    David Simon, Northeastern University School of Law
    12:15 – 1:00 PM
    Lunch
    Afternoon Session
    DOCKSER HALL, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, 65 FORSYTH STREET, BOSTON
    1:00 – 2:15 PM
    Concurrent Sessions 1
     
    The Future of Maternal and Children’s Health – 44 Dockser

    Aziza Ahmed, Boston University School of Law
    Brietta Clark, Loyola Law School (virtual)
    Ederlina Co, University of the Pacific
    Jamille Fields Allsbrook, St. Louis University School of Law

    Moderator
    Katherine Kraschel, Northeastern University School of Law
     
    The Potential of Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Mitigate or Exacerbate Health Inequities – 46 Dockser

    Ignacio Cofone, McGill University Faculty of Law
    Sara Gerke, Penn State Dickinson Law
    Chris Robertson, Boston University School of Law
     
    Moderator
    Claudia Haupt, Northeastern University School of Law 
    2:20 – 3:35 PM
    Concurrent Sessions 2
     
    The Impact of SFFA on the Health of Traditionally Marginalized Populations – 44 Dockser

    Dr. Allison Kelliher, John Hopkins University School of Nursing
    Medha Makhlouf, Penn State Dickinson Law
    Sidney Watson,  St. Louis University School of Law
    Maya Watson, Wayne State University Law School (virtual)

    Moderator 
    Wendy E. Parmet, Northeastern University School of Law
     
    The Impact of the Court’s Decision on Hospitals and Insurance Companies – 46 Dockser

    Joshua Abrams, Office of General Counsel, Mass General Brigham
    Almeta E. Cooper, Moms Clean Air Force
    Allison Hoffman, Penn Carey Law
    Liz McCuskey, Boston University School of Public Health
     
    Moderator
    Kristin Madison, Northeastern University School of Law
    3:35 – 3:45 PM
    Break
    3:45 – 5:00 PM
    Concurrent Sessions 3
    The Impact of the Court’s Decision on Medical Education and the Healthcare Workforce – 44 Dockser
     
    Dr. Andrea T. Deyrup, MD, PhD, Duke University School of Medicine
    Joseph L. Graves Jr., North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (virtual)
    John Hoberman, The University of Texas at Austin
    Michael Sinha, St. Louis University School of Law 
     
    Moderator
    Jonathan Kahn, Northeastern University School of Law
     
    The Impact of the Court’s Decision on Research – 46 Dockser
     
    Maggie Alegria, Massachusetts General Hospital
    Giridhar Mallya, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
    Alfredo Morabia, City University of New York and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
     
    Moderator
    Idia Binitie Thurston, Northeastern University College of Social Sciences and Humanities
     

     

    Hosted in collaboration with:
    Northeastern University Law Review

  • Health misinformation and disinformation are creating significant harms to public health and health care systems across the globe. The US Office of the Surgeon General has declared health misinformation to be a significant public health challenge.

    Misinformation on issues such as vaccinations, masking, abortion, COVID-19, gender affirming care, monkeypox and opioids have spread even quicker with the use of social media and web-based news channels. Such misinformation can exacerbate health inequities and pose problems for health privacy. Law and policy will be instrumental in determining the response to ongoing health misinformation and will most certainly influence how healthcare and public health systems develop strategies promoting science. Efforts to stem the spread of misinformation implicate many areas of law, including technology and privacy law, the First Amendment, tort law, FTC law and professional licensing.

    >>Download Annual Health Law Conference Flyer

    Keynote Bio

    Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, is an internationally recognized physician-scientist in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development. He is dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also the co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) and Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair of Tropical Pediatrics. Among his many honors and awards, he was named by FORTUNE magazine as one of the 34 most influential people in healthcare in 2017. In 2022, Dr. Hotez and his colleague Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to develop and distribute a low-cost COVID-19 vaccine to people of the world without patent limitation.

    Friday, April 14, 2023

    Hosted in collaboration with the Northeastern University Law Review (NULR), authors will presented  on papers to be published in an upcoming issue of the Law Review.

    Conference Schedule
    8:30 AM 220 Dockser Hall

    Doors Open – Light Breakfast
    9:00-9:15 AM Welcome –

    James Hackney
    Dean, Northeastern University School of Law


    Wendy Parmet
    Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law; Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law; Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs

    9:15-10:30 AM Keynote Speaker –

    Dr. Peter Hotez
    Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine; Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine


    10:30 AM -12:00 PM Paper Presentations –

    Introduction by Brook Baker
    Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law; Honorary Research Fellow, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Oliver J. Kim
    Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
    The Role of State Boards of Medicine in the Dissemination of Medical Misinformation

    Wesley Hartman, Sabrina Adler and Alexis Etow
    ChangeLab Solutions
    Public Health Law: A Framework for Addressing Misinformation and Health Equity

    Leo Beletsky, Katie McCreedy, Sunyou Kang, Sean McCormick and
    Julia Winett
    The Action Lab at the Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law
    Misinformation and the Legal and Ethical Debate on Involuntary Commitment for Substance Use Disorder

    Rebecca S. Feinberg
    Teaching Associate Professor, De Paul University
    Crisis Pregnancy Centers — Falsehoods and the Religious Practice of Medicine

    12:00- 1:00 PM Lunch (lounge area outside of 220 Dockser Hall)
    1:00-2:15 PM Concurrent Sessions I

    Professional Regulations — 42 Dockser Hall

    Claudia Haupt
    Associate Professor of Law and Political Science, Northeastern University School of Law; Affiliate Fellow, Information Society Project, Yale Law School

    Carl Coleman (virtual)
    Professor of Law; Academic Director, Division of Online Learning, Seton Hall Law

    Timothy Caulfield (virtual)
    Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy; Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health; and Research Director, Health Law Institute, University of Alberta

    Sonja Rasnussen
    Professor of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

    Misinformation Regarding Abortion — 44 Dockser Hall

    Wendy Parmet (moderator)
    Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law; Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law; Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs

    Aziza Ahmed
    Professor of Law; R. Gordon Butler Scholar in International Law; Co-Director, Boston University Law Program in Reproductive Justice, Boston University School of Law

    Caroline Corbin (virtual)
    Professor of Law, University of Miami

    Patty Skuster
    Beck Chair in Law, Temple Law School; Fellow, Center for Public Health Law Research

    Torts — 46 Dockser Hall

    Richard Daynard (moderator)
    University Distinguished Professor of Law; President, Public Health Advocacy Institute, Northeastern University School of Law

    Dorit Rubinstein Reiss
    Professor of Law and the James Edgar Hervey ’50 Chair of Litigation, UC College of the Law (formerly known as UC Hastings)

    Wes Henricksen
    Associate Professor of Law, Barry University School of Law

    2:15-2:30 PM Break
    2:30-3:45 PM Concurrent Sessions II

    First Amendment and Social Media — 42 Dockser Hall

    Jonathan Kahn (moderator)
    Professor of Law and Biology, Northeastern University School of Law

    Tomer Kenneth
    JSD Candidate, New York University; Fellow, Information Law Institute

    Ana Rutschman
    Professor of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law

    Scott Wilkens
    Senior Counsel, Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia University

    Trans Health and Misinformation — 44 Dockser Hall

    Andrew Cohen (moderator)
    Director and Lead Attorney, Access to Care and Coverage Team, Health Law Advocates

    Dallas Duncar
    Chief Executive Officer, Transhealth; Faculty Member, University of Virginia School of Nursing, Columbia University and MHG Institute for Health Professions

    Heather Walter-McCabe
    Associate Professor of Law and Social Work; Faculty Director, Master of Studies in Law Program, Wayne State University

    Drugs and Drug Policy Misinformation — 46 Dockser Hall

    Leo Beletsky (moderator)
    Professor of Law and Health Sciences; Faculty Director, The Action Lab at the Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law

    Nab Dasgupta
    Senior Scientist; Injury Prevention Research Center Innovation Fellow, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University North Carolina Chapel Hill

    Mason Marks (virtual)
    Senior Fellow and Project Lead, Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, Harvard Law School

    Anne Rancourt (virtual)
    Chief, Communications Branch, Office of Science Policy and Communications, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health

    Rachel Winograd
    Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Missouri-St. Louis

     

    Hosted in collaboration with:
    Northeastern University Law Review

  • Climate Change:
    The Challenges for Health, Equity and the Law

    April 14-15, 2022

    Climate change and global warming are already having a significant impact on public health and health care systems across the globe. Lack of infrastructure and preparedness result in systems that are ill-equipped to handle the challenges of increases in climate change-related deaths, acute and chronic illnesses, and resource strain. These issues disproportionately impact tribal communities and populations already experiencing significant disparities in care and access. Law and policy will be instrumental in determining the response to ongoing climate change issues, and will most certainly influence how healthcare and public health systems develop strategies for resilience and change.

    Hosted in collaboration with Northeastern University Law Review (NULR), authors will present on papers to be published in an upcoming issue of the Law Review.
    >> Download the program

    Keynote Speaker
    Dr. Cheryl Holder, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Community Initiatives at Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University

    Cheryl L. Holder, M.D., has dedicated her career to caring for underserved populations and promoting diversity in the health professions through pipeline programs. Holder is a founding faculty member of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM).

    As the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Community Initiatives, Holder integrates diversity, inclusivity, and social justice in all HWCOM programs and operations. She also teaches medical, nursing, social work, and physician assistant students about working in underserved communities through the Green Family Foundation NeighborhoodHELP program.

    Holder began her career in 1987 as a National Health Service Corp Scholar working with medically underserved communities in South Florida. From 1990 to 2009, she served as medical director for Jackson Health System’s North Dade Health Center, where she developed an HIV care and treatment program and directed the first school-based health center in Miami-Dade County.

     

    Thursday, April 14, 2022
    Egan Research Center, 140 Forsyth Street, Northeastern University
    Hosted in collaboration with Northeastern University Law Review (NULR), authors will present on papers to be published in an upcoming issue of the Law Review.
    2:00 – 2:10 PM Welcome
    Jennifer Lea Huer
    Managing Director, Center for Health Policy and Law; Lecturer, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University
    2:10 – 2:35 PM Protecting Tribal Public Health from Climate Change Impacts
    Heather Tanana, Assistant Research Professor, The University of Utah – S.J. Quinney College of Law
    2:35 – 3:00 PM Addressing the Health Risks of Climate-Related Migration in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings
    Alexandra Tarzikhan ’19, Schuette Clinical Fellow in Health and Human Rights, Center for International Human Rights, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
    3:00 – 3:25 PM Climate Change and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
    Morgan Murray, Research Consultant, RestoreHER US.America
    3:25 – 3:45 PM Q&A
    3:45 – 3:50 PM Break
    3:50 – 4:15 PM Climate Collisions: Mapping the Intersections between Safety, Health and Environmental Justice in the Age of Climate Change
    Jeremiah Goulka, Senior Fellow and Director of Justice Policy,  Health in Justice Action Lab, Northeastern University School of Law
    4:15 – 4:40 PM The Prospect and Perils of Climate Preemption for Public Health
    Sarah Fox, Associate Professor of Law, Northern Illinois University College of Law
    4:40 – 5:00 PM Q & A and Wrap-up
    5:00 – 6:00 PM Reception
    Friday, April 15, 2022
    Egan Research Center, 140 Forsyth Street, Northeastern University
    8:30 AM Doors Open
    Light breakfast provided. 
    9:00 – 9:15 AM Welcome
    James Hackney, Dean and Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law
    Jonathan Kahn, Professor of Law and Biology and Co-Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University
    9:15 – 10:15 AM Keynote Speaker
    Dr. Cheryl Holder, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Community Initiatives at Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University
    10:15 – 11:30 AM Plenary Panel
    Moderator:
    Jonathan Kahn, Professor of Law and Biology; Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern UniversityPanelists:
    Kristie Ebi, Professor of Global Health and Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington
    Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
    Stephen Latham, Senior Research Scientist and Director, Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics
    11:30 AM – 11:45 AM Break
    11:45 AM – 1:00 PM Concurrent Sessions 1

    Healthcare Systems and Climate Change

    Moderator:
    Matthew Eckelman, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University

    Panelists:

    Brian Chesebro, MD, Medical Director, Environmental Stewardship, Providence Oregon

    Amy Hall, Director, Office of Legislation, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; House Ways and Means Committee

    Dr. Jonathan Slutzman, Instructor in Emergency Medicine; Director at the Center for the Environment and Health; Medical Director for Environmental Sustainability, Masschusetts General Hospital

    Interdisciplinary Collaboration with the Natural Environment: Ways to Address Legal and Public Health Ramifications of Climate Change

    Moderator:
    Jill Krueger, Director, Northern Region Office, Network for Public Health Law

    Panelists:
    Natasha DeJarnett, Assistant Professor of Environmental Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine

    Leah Prussia, Professor of Social Work, The College of St. Scholastica

    Heidi Roop, Assistant Professor of Climate Science, University of Minnesota; Director, Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership

    1:00 – 2:15 PM Lunch provided for speakers and attendees
    2:15 – 3:30 PM Concurrent Sessions II 

    Planning and Jurisdictional Issues in Organizing Responses to Extreme Heat Events

    Moderator:
    Jason A. Smith, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, California State University, East Bay

    Panelists:
    Cara Horowitz, Andrew Sabin Family Foundation Co-Executive Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment; Co-Director, UCLA Environmental Law Clinic, UCLA School of Law
    Michael T. Schmeltz, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health, California State University, East Bay
    V. Kelly Turner, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Geography, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

    A Human Rights Lens to Climate Change

    Moderator:
    Martha Davis, University Distinguished Professor of Law; Co-Director, Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy; Faculty Director, NuLawLab, Northeastern University School of Law

    Panelists:
    Alfred Brownell, Executive Director, Green Advocates; Tom & Andi Bernstein Visiting Human Rights Fellow, Yale Law School
    Rosa Celorio, Associate Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies and Burnett Family Professorial Lecturer in International and Comparative Law and Policy, George Washington Law School
    Sébastien Jodoin, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Human Rights, Health, and the Environment, McGill University Faculty of Law

    3:30 – 3:45 PM Break
    3:45 PM – 5:00 PM Concurrent Sessions III

    Climate Change Litigation

    Moderator:
    Richard Daynard, University Distinguished Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law; President, Public Health Advocacy Institute

    Panelists:
    Benjamin Frante, PhD Candidate, History, Stanford University
    Matthew F. Pawa, Partner, Environmental Practice, Sweeger Weiss LLP
    Staci Rubin ‘09, Vice President, Environmental Justice, Conservation Law Foundation

    Resiliency: Native Community and US Island Territories

    Moderator:
    Stephen E. Flynn, Professor of Political Science, Northeastern University; Founding Director, Global Resilience Institute

    Panelists:
    John Englander, Executive Director, Caribbean Center for Rising Seas at the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust
    Roger Fragua,  Co-Founder and Executive Director, Flower Hill Institute
    Gilberto Guevara, Senior Director, Caribbean Center for Rising Seas at the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust
    Michael McDonald, Resilient American Communities (RAC) COVID-19 Initiative; Global Health Response and Resilience Initiatives; Alliance for Global Resilience and Regeneration
    Jerry Pardilla, Former Chief, Penobscot Tribal Nation; Director, Office of Environmental Resource Management, United South and Eastern Tribes

    Hosted in collaboration with:
    Northeastern Law’s Health Law Society
    Northeastern University Law Review

  • Health and the Body Politic: Undermining Democracy, Undermining Health

    Friday, April 16, 2021 | 1:30 – 5:00 PM 

    Health law scholars have been energetically engaged in identifying and responding to the myriad challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Equity, access, mental health, availability of resources, vaccine development and rationing, and related issues of public health and private rights have come to the fore as matters of critical concern. In addition, and related to these issues, is the critical question of democratic governance. Inextricably interrelated to the current public health crisis, the crisis of governance presents a host of issues to be examined. This dynamic virtual conference featured leading academics, policy-makers and advocates.

     


    2021 Health Law Conference Paper Workshop Program
    Friday, April 16, 2021


    1:30 PM
    Welcome
    Wendy E. Parmet
    Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law; Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law; Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs


    1:40 – 3:30 PM
    Workshop Paper Presentations
    In collaboration with the Northeastern University Law Review (NULR), we issued a Call for Papers for this workshop. Selected authors will present their papers during the workshop and commentators will offer feedback during the session.

    Activismitis
    Author
    Courtney Anderson
    Associate Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law

    Commentator
    Dorianne Mason
    Director of Health Equity, National Women’s Law Center

    ********************

    Tribal Consultation and Health Policy 

    Author
    Aila Hoss
    Assistant Professor of Law, University of Tulsa College of Law

    Commentator
    Dr. Mary Owen
    Director, Center of American Indian and Minority Health, University of Minnesota Medical School

    ********************

    Second-Class Health in the Absence of Democracy
    Authors
    Paola M. Sepúlveda-Miranda
    Clinical Data and Quality Management, Massachusetts Department of Mental Health; Director, Didasko Project; Research Associate in Psychology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

    Sonja M. Fernández-Quiñones
    Systems Change Advocate, Sexual Violence Center; Social Media Manager, Didasko Project

    Commentator
    Eduardo A. Lugo-Hernández
    Assistant Professor, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus; Executive Director, Impacto Juventud Inc

    ********************

    Post-Truth Won’t Set us Free: Health Law, Patient Autonomy and the Rise of the Infodemic

    Authors
    Wendy E. Parmet
    Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law; Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law; Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs

    Jeremy Paul
    Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of LawCommentator

    Leslie Francis
    Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Law, University of Utah


    3:30 – 3:45 PM
    Break

    3:45 – 5:00 PM
    Panel Discussion: The Fascist Threat to Health
    Hosted in collaboration with the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH)
    Moderator

    Alfredo Morabia
    Editor-in-Chief, AJPH

    Panelists
    Mary Travis Bassett
    Director, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University; FXB Professor of Health and Human Rights, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

    Ruth Ben-Ghiat
    Professor of History and Italian Studies, New York University

    Sir Richard Evans
    Regius Professor Emeritus of History, University of Cambridge

    Paul Weindling
    Wellcome Trust Research Professor in History of Medicine, Oxford Brookes University


    5:00 PM Closing Remarks


    This event was hosted in collaboration with The American Journal of Public Health (AJPH)
    – A publication of the American Public Health Association.

  • Public Health Litigation: Possibilities and Pitfalls

    Friday, April 17, 2020
    Due to concerns related to COVID-19, the paper workshop component of our 2020 conference was hosted virtually.

    In the 1990s, lawsuits against tobacco companies focused the public’s attention on a deadly public health epidemic, unearthed critical and shocking information through discovery, and changed the political dynamics regarding regulation. Since then, we’ve seen how litigation can help change industry practices, discourage consumption and sometimes fund public health efforts. Public health advocates, as well as states and municipalities, have sued gun manufacturers, fast food restaurants, e-cigarette companies, manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids and contributors to climate change, all with an eye to improving public health.

    Nonetheless, affirmative public health litigation continues to face numerous obstacles. These include federal and state preemption, limitations on class actions, and questions about whether litigation can achieve effective public health changes. 

    Leading academics, activists and policymakers will participate in a virtual paper workshop to explore the possibilities and pitfalls of litigating in the public health context as we move forward.


    2020 Health Law Conference Paper Workshop Program
    Friday, April 17, 2020


    Welcome
    Wendy E. Parmet
    Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law
    Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law
    Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs

    Sarah Canapari
    Editor-in-Chief, Northeastern University Law Review


    12:00 – 3:00 PM
    Workshop Paper Presentations
    In collaboration with the Northeastern University Law Review (NULR), we issued a Call for Papers for this workshop. Selected authors will present their papers during the workshop and commentators will offer feedback during the session. 

    Public Health Litigation Transparency
    Author
    Jennifer Oliva
    Associate Professor of Law, Seton Hall University School of Law

    Commentator
    Donna Levin, National Director, The Network for Public Health Law

    ***********************

    Litigation as Education: Public Health’s Role in Second Amendment Constitutional Analysis
    Author
    Michael Ulrich
    Assistant Professor of Health Law, Ethics, & Human Rights, Boston University School of Public Health; Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Solomon Center for Health Law & Policy, Yale Law School

    Commentator
    Zoe Grover, Executive Director, Stop Handgun Violence

    ***********************

    The Biggest Agency Problem of All: Public Health in the Opioid Litigation

    Author
    Daniel Aaron
    JD/MD Candidate and Petrie-Flom Center Student Fellow, Harvard University

    Commentator
    Richard Daynard, President, Public Health Advocacy Institute; University Distinguished Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law

    ***********************

    Preemption and Privatization in the Opioid Litigation

    Author
    Lance Gable
    Associate Professor of Law, Wayne State University Law School 

    Commentator
    Mark Gottlieb
    Executive Director, Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI)

    ***********************

    The Fourth Wave?: Public Health Litigation, E-cigarettes, and the Cigarette Endgame

    Author
    Micah Berman
    Associate Professor of Health Services Management & Policy, College of Public Health and Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University

    Commentator
    Monica Valdes Lupi, Senior Fellow, de Beaumont Foundation

    ***********************

    The Procurement of Public Health Litigation and its Implications for Public Health

    Author
    Liza Vertinsky
    Associate Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law
    [Paper co-authored with Reuben A. Guttman, Guttman, Buscher & Brooks PLLC]

    Commentator
    Eric Gold, Chief, Health Care Division, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office

    ***********************

    Public Health Law 2020: The Limits of Using Litigation to Change Hearts and Minds

    Author
    Peter Jacobson
    Professor Emeritus of Health Law and Policy and Director, Center for Law, Ethics, and Health, University of Michigan School of Public Health

    Commentator
    Monica Valdes Lupi
    Senior Fellow, de Beaumont Foundation


    3:00 PM
    Conclusion

  • Promises and Perils of Emerging Health Innovations

    Thursday, April 11 and Friday, April 12, 2019
    Northeastern University 

    Health care is rapidly changing. Over the last decade, striking innovations, including artificial intelligence, robotics, mobile technology, gene therapies, pharmaceuticals, big data analytics, tele- and virtual health care delivery, have been developed as new entities and modes of delivery, from accountable care organizations (ACOs) to retail minute-clinics, have entered the market. More dramatic innovations and market disruptions are likely in the years to come. These new technologies and market disruptions offer immense promise to advance health care quality and efficiency, as well as improve provider and patient engagement. Success will depend, however, on careful consideration of potential perils and well-planned interventions to ensure new methods ultimately further, rather than diminish, the health of patients, especially those who are the most vulnerable.

    Throughout the two-day conference, interdisciplinary experts, policymakers, academics, and providers attempted to answer myriad questions, including:

    What are the legal, policy, and ethical considerations regarding new health technologies? New forms of organization?
    What safety and privacy issues will arise from new health technologies? How will this change over time?
    What protections can we put into place to protect privacy as the market changes and technologies evolve?
    Who is ultimately accountable for the development, use, and oversight of emerging health technologies and innovations?
    What legal mechanisms exist for promoting access to and serving underserved populations?
    Should new innovations focus on clinical health care, population health, public health, or some combination?
    Whom do these new technologies and entities ultimately serve (providers, patients, private companies) and how does that lens impact how we incorporate them into the health care system?


    Keynote Speaker
    John D. Halamka, M.D.
    Chief Information Officer, Beth Israel Deaconess System

    John D. Halamka, M.D., is the chief information officer (CIO) at Beth Israel Deaconess System, chairman of the New England Healthcare Exchange Network (NEHEN), and a practicing emergency physician. He is also the International Healthcare Innovation professor at Harvard Medical School.

    Dr. Halamka completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, where he received a degree in medical microbiology and a degree in public policy with a focus on technology issues. He entered medical school at the University of California, San Francisco and simultaneously pursued graduate work in bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley focusing on technology issues in medicine. He completed his residency at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center in the Department of Emergency Medicine.

    In his role at BIDMC, Dr. Halamka is responsible for all clinical, financial, administrative, and academic information technology, serving 3,000 doctors, 12,000 employees, and 1,000,000 patients. As chairman of NEHEN, Dr. Halamka oversees clinical and administrative data exchange among the payers, providers, and patients in Massachusetts. As a Harvard professor, he has served the George W. Bush administration, the Obama administration, and national governments throughout the world planning their healthcare IT strategy.

    Dr. Halamka has authored five books on technology-related issues, hundreds of articles and thousands of posts on the popular Geekdoctor blog.

    He runs Unity Farm in Sherborn, MA and serves as caretaker for 150 animals, 30 acres of agricultural production and a cidery/winery.

    Afternoon Featured Speaker    

    Rick Berke
    Executive Editor, STAT

    Rick Berke, executive editor, oversees STAT’s editorial team. He was previously a longtime reporter and editor at the New York Times, where he served as White House correspondent, chief political correspondent, Washington editor, national editor, video content editor, and assistant managing editor. More recently, Rick was executive editor at Politico. Before he turned to chasing politicians, Rick’s first major investigative series, for the Baltimore Evening Sun and Regardie’s magazine, was a deep look at the science, history, one-time glamor, discoveries, and tax dodges behind the Howard Hughes Medical Institute ⎯ and its eccentric founder. 

  • Diseases of Despair: The Role of Policy and Law

    Thursday, April 12 and Friday, April 13, 2018
    Northeastern University 

    Anne Case and Angus Deaton shocked the world with their 2015 report that noted an increase in all-cause mortality among middle-aged white non-Hispanic men and women in the United States. This pattern is not occurring in other groups within the United States and Europe. Their report, and others since then, have linked this trend to so-called deaths of despair (death from suicide, chronic substance use and overdoses) and their linkage to other determinants of health (education, labor markets, marital patterns). A 2017 update to the report makes it clear that this trend is no longer limited to any particular geographic region within the United States.

    This year’s conference and associated scholarship brought together experts, policymakers and academics to discuss the causes behind such trends, and to explore potential political, policy and legal responses for addressing broader determinants that affect the physical and mental health of Americans dying from these diseases of despair. Deeper examination into similar patterns among diverse populations, as well as analysis of continuing racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities, were central to the discourse.

    This Week in Health Law (TWIHL) Broadcasts Live From #DiseasesofDespair 

    TWIHL, our 2018 conference podcast partner, recorded special episodes live from Diseases of Despair.  Along with TWIHL host Nicolas Terry, NUSL Professor Leo Beletsky acted as co-host and spoke with several of our conference speakers. Check out the related Bill of Health blog post for some background information on the discussions and to see a list of recommended reading.

    Episodes 136 & 137: Listen here and here!


    Program
    Thursday, April 12, 2018
    Raytheon Amphitheater, Egan Research Center, Northeastern University


    1:30 – 2:30 PM
    Opening Remarks:
    Representative Patrick KennedyThe Honorable Patrick J. Kennedy is a former member of the US House of Representatives and the nation’s leading political voice on mental illness, addiction and other brain diseases. During his 16-year career representing Rhode Island in Congress, he fought a national battle to end medical and societal discrimination against these illnesses, highlighted by his lead sponsorship of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 — and his brave openness about his own health challenges.

    The son of Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy, he decided to leave Congress not long after his father’s death to devote his career to advocacy for brain diseases and to create a new, healthier life and start a family. He has since founded the Kennedy Forum, which unites the community of mental health, and co-founded One Mind, a global leader in open science collaboration in brain research. Kennedy is also the co-author of A Common Struggle, which outlines both his personal story and a bold plan for the future of mental health in America. Representative Kennedy was appointed in May 2017 to sit on the Trump administration’s Presidential Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crises.

    Kennedy is living in long-term recovery from opiate addiction in New Jersey with his wife, Amy, and their four children.


    2:30 – 4:30 PM

    Academic Paper Workshop in Collaboration with the Northeastern University Law Review
    Selected papers will be published in the Winter 2019 Issue of the Northeastern University Law ReviewModerator:
    Jennifer Lea Huer
    , Managing Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of LawPresenters:
    Taleed El-Sabawi, Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University
    Abraham Gutman, Senior Data and Policy Analyst, Center for Public Health Law Research, Temple University Beasley School of Law
    Peter Jacobson, Professor Emeritus of Health Law and Policy and Director, Center for Law, Ethics, and Health, University of Michigan School of Public Health
    Matthew J.B. LawrenceAssistant Professor of Law, Dickinson Law; Assistant Professor, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University
    Elisabeth Ryan, Legal Fellow, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law


    4:30 – 6:00 PM
    Public Health Law Watch: Meaningful and Effective Responses
    A Community Discussion 
    This session will begin with a moderator-led discussion on how academics and lawyers can and should influence public health law and policy, with a few speakers offering their particular insights and highlighting examples of successful initiatives. Conference attendees and community members will be invited to join the open conversation that follows.Moderator:
    Wendy E. Parmet, Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law; Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University Panelists:
    Scott Burris, Professor of Law and Director, Center for Health Law, Policy, and Practice, Temple University Law School
    Richard Daynard, University Distinguished Professor of Law and President, Public Health Advocacy Institute, Northeastern University School of Law
    Renée Landers, Professor of Law and Director, Health Law Concentration, Suffolk University Law School
    Elisabeth Ryan, Legal Fellow, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law


    Friday, April 13, 2018
    Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex (ISEC), Northeastern University


    8:00 – 8:45 AM
    Registration and Continental Breakfast


    8:45 – 9:00 AM

    Welcome and Introduction
    Jeremy Paul
    , Dean and Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law
    Wendy E. Parmet
    , Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law; Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University


    9:00 – 10:15 AM

    Featured Speaker:

    Dr. Michael Fraser 
    Executive Director, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)

    Michael Fraser is executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASHTO), a national nonprofit organization representing the public health agencies of the United States, the US territories and the District of Columbia, as well as the more than 100,000 public health professionals these agencies employ. Prior to joining ASTHO, he served as the executive vice president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Medical Society. He served as CEO of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) from 2007 to 2013.

    Prior to joining AMCHP, Fraser was the deputy executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials from 2002 to 2007, and served in several capacities at the US Department of Health and Human Services, including positions at the Health Resources and Services Administration and the CDC. He received his doctorate and master’s degrees in sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s in management, strategy and leadership from the Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University. He received his BA in sociology from Oberlin College in 1991. He is currently active in the American Society of Association Executives, serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, and is an ex-officio member of the Public Health Accreditation Board.


    10:15 – 11:30 AM
    Morning Plenary
    Diseases of Despair: Defining the Problem

    Moderator:
    Wendy E. Parmet, Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law

     Panelists:
    Scott Burris, Professor of Law, Beasley School of Law, Temple University
    Todd Hembree, Attorney General, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
    Dr. William Martin, Dean and Professor Administration, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University
    Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair of Public Health Promotion and Associate Professor of Sociology, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University 


    11:30 – 11:45 AM
    Break


    11:45 – 1:00 PM

    Concurrent Panels I

    Panel A: Opioids/ Substance Use Disorder

    Moderator:
    Leo Beletsky, Associate Professor of Law and Health Sciences, Northeastern University

     Panelists:
    Scott Hadland, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine
    Ayana Jordan, Assistant Professor, Yale School of Medicine
    Nicolas P. Terry, Hall Render Professor of Law and Executive Director, William S. and Christine S. Hall Center for Law and Health, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law
    Monique Tula, Executive Director, Harm Reduction Coalition

    ***********************

    Panel B: Violence
    Moderator:
    Dr. Gregory Curfman, Research and Publication Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law

    Panelists:
    Chaplain Clementina Chery, Founder, President, CEO, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
    Carlos Cuevas, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Northeastern University
    Bindu Kalesan, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director, Center for Clinical Translational Epidemiology and Comparative Effectiveness Research Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
    Emily Rothman, Associate Professor, Boston University School of Public Health

    ***********************

    Panel C: Suicide
    Moderator:
    Matthew Miller, Professor of Health Sciences and Epidemiology, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University

    Panelists:
    Joseph Simonetti, School of Medicine, University of Colorado
    Jason Smith
    , Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Health Sciences, California State University, East Bay
    Peter Wyman, Professor of Psychiatry and Director, School and Community-Based Prevention Laboratory, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry


    1:00 – 2:30PM

    Lunch

    Luncheon Speaker:
    Michael Botticelli
    Executive Director, The Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine, Boston Medical Center; former Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy under the Obama Administration

    Michael Botticelli is the executive director of the Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine at Boston Medical Center and a Distinguished Policy Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

    Previously, Botticelli was director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for the Obama administration from 2014 through January 2017. He joined the ONDCP as deputy director in 2012. Mr. Botticelli has more than two decades of experience supporting Americans affected by substance use disorders. Prior to joining ONDCP, he served as director of the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where he successfully expanded innovative and nationally recognized prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery services for the commonwealth. He also forged strong partnerships with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies; state and local health and human service agencies; and stakeholder groups to guide and implement evidence-based programs.

    Mr. Botticelli holds a BA from Siena College and a MEd from St. Lawrence University. He is also in long-term recovery from a substance use disorder.


    2:30 – 3:45 PM

    Afternooon Plenary
    Disparate Discourses: The Persistence of Racial and Gender Disparities in Diseases of Despair

    Moderator:
    Jennifer Lea Huer, Managing Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law

    Panelists:
    Brietta ClarkAssociate Dean for Faculty, Professor of Law, and J. Rex Dibble Fellow, Loyola Law School
    Renée LandersProfessor of Law and Director, Health Law Concentration, Suffolk University Law School
    Lindsey Cei Vuolo, Associate Director, Health Law and Policy, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse


    3:45 – 5:00 PM
    Concurrent Panels

    Panel A: State and Local Innovations

    Moderator:
    Jennifer Lea Huer, Managing Director, Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law

    Panelists:
    Julia Costich, Professor, Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Kentucky College of Public Health
    Katie Garfield, Staff Attorney, Health Law and Policy Clinic, Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, Harvard Law School
    Jessica Mantel, Associate Professor, Co-Director, Health Law and Policy Institute, University of Houston Law Center
    David Rochefort, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Political Science, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Northeastern University

    ******************

    Panel B:  Medical-Legal Partnerships

    Moderator:
    Margo Lindauer, Associate Teaching Professor and Director, Domestic Violence Institute, Northeastern University School of Law

    Panelists:
    Tamar Ezer, Lecturer in Law, Associate Research Scholar in Law and Schell Visiting Human Rights Scholar, Yale Law School
    JoHanna Flacks, Legal Director, MLPB
    Elizabeth Tobin Tyler, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Alpert Medical School; Assistant Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health

    ******************

    Panel C:  Medicaid Innovation

    Moderator:
    Jean McGuire, Professor of Practice, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University

     Panelists:
    Jane Perkins, Legal Director, National Health Law Program
    Matt Salo, Executive Director, National Association of Medicaid Directors
    Sidney Watson, Professor of Law, Saint Louis University School of Law


    5:00 PM
    Closing Reception


  • Between Complacency and Panic:
    Legal, Ethical and Policy Responses to Emerging Infectious Diseases

    Friday, April 14, 2017

    Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) such as Ebola and the Zika virus pose potentially grave threats to human health. They can also incite overreations that lead to the scapegoating of vulnerable populations and counter-productive public health responses, such as those that occurred during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. This one-day conference brought together leading policymakers, practitioners and academics to explore the dangers of such diseases and to discuss the development of effective, evidence-based, legally sound and ethically appropriate policy responses.

    Keynote Speaker: 

    Dr. Anthony Fauci
    Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
    Chief, NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation
    National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

    Anthony Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, where he oversees an extensive research portfolio devoted to preventing, diagnosing and treating infectious and immune-mediated diseases. Dr. Fauci has been a key advisor to five Presidents and their administrations on global AIDS issues, and on initiatives to bolster medical and public health preparedness against emerging infectious disease threats such as pandemic influenza. As an HIV/AIDS researcher he has been involved in the scientific effort since AIDS was recognized in 1981, conducting pivotal studies that underpin the current understanding of the disease and efforts to develop therapies and tools of prevention. Dr. Fauci was one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has helped save millions of lives throughout the developing world.

    Luncheon Speaker

    Laurie Garrett
    Senior Fellow for Global Health, Council on Foreign Relations

    Since 2004, Laurie Garrett has been a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Garrett is the only writer ever to have been awarded all three of the Big “Ps” of journalism: the Peabody, the Polk and the Pulitzer. Her expertise includes global health systems, chronic and infectious diseases, and bioterrorism.

    Garrett is the best-selling author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance; Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health; I Heard the Sirens Scream: How Americans Responded to the 9/11 and Anthrax Attacks; and the e-book EBOLA: Story of an Outbreak. Over the years, she has also contributed chapters to numerous books, including: AIDS in the World; Disease in Evolution: Global Changes and Emergence of Infectious Diseases; Controversies in Globalization; Practicing Sustainability; How Did This Happen: Terrorism and the New War; Beyond Humanitarianism: What You Need to Know About Africa and Why It Matters; Health and Development; and most recently To Save Humanity: What Matters Most for a Healthy Future.


    Program
    Friday, April 14, 2017


    Jeremy Paul, Dean and Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law
    Wendy Parmet, Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law


    8:45 AM
    Introduction:
    Susan Parish
    Dean, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern UniversityKeynote Speaker:
    Dr. Anthony Fauci
    Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
    Chief, NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation
    National Institutes of Health


    10:00 AM

    Emerging Infectious Diseases: Learning from the Past, Preparing for the Future

    Panelists:
    Dr. John Auerbach, President and CEO, Trust for America’s Health
    Mandeep Dhaliwal, Team Leader, HIV, Health and Development, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, United Nations Development Programme
    Lawrence Gostin, Professor of Global Health Law, Georgetown Law
    Michelle Mello, Professor of Law, Stanford Law School, and Professor of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine
    Alessandro Vespignani, Sternberg Family Distinguished University Professor and Director, Network Science Institute, Northeastern University


    11:45 – 12:00 PM
    Break


    12:00 PM
    Concurrent Panels 1

    Panel A: Vaccine Development I (IP & Liability Issues)

    Panelists:
    Jonathan Darrow, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School
    Matthew Herder, Associate Professor of Medicine and Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law
    Suerie Moon, Director of Research at the Global Health Centre and Visiting Lecturer at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva

    Moderator:
    Kara Swanson, Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law

    *******************

    Panel B: Reproductive & Sexual Rights and EIDS

    Panelists:
    Kelly Blanchard, President, Ibis Reproductive Health
    Nazneen Damji, United Nations Women’s Gender Equality and HIV/AIDS Policy Advisor
    Seema Mohapatra
    , Associate Professor of Law, Barry University

    Moderator:
    Aziza Ahmed, Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law

    *******************

    Panel C: Isolation, Quarantine, and the Use of Coercive Public Health Powers

    Panelists:
    Kaci Hickox, Infection Preventist and Public Health Advocate
    Wendy Mariner
    , Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law, Boston University School of Public Health, and Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law, and Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
    Mark Rothstein, Director, Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy and Law, University of Louisville School of Medicine

    Moderator:
    Wendy Parmet, Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law


    1:15 PM
    Lunch

    Introduction:
    Michael Pollastri
    Chair, Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department, Northeastern University

    Luncheon Speaker:
    Laurie Garrett
    Senior Fellow for Global Health, Council on Foreign Relations


    Concurrent Panels 2

    Panel A: Vaccine Development II (Ethical Issues in Trials and Access)

    Panelists:
    Holly Fernandez Lynch, Executive Director, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School
    Jason L. Schwartz, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and in the History of Medicine, Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine
    Ross D. Silverman, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Indiana University
    Holly Taylor, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

    Moderator:
    Brook Baker, Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law


    Panel B: Protecting Vulnerable Populations

    Panelists:
    Hannah Adams, Equal Justice Works Fellow, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services
    Kim Buchanan, Researcher, Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy, Central Connecticut State University
    Monica Valdes Lupi, Executive Director, Boston Public Health Commission

    Moderator:
    Margo Lindauer, Associate Teaching Professor and Director of the Domestic Violence Institute, Northeastern University  


    Panel C: The Role of Health Delivery Systems

    Panelists:
    Dr. Neil Fishman, Associate Chief Medical Officer, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
    Dr. Preeti Mehrotra, Infectious Diseases Fellow, Boston Children’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
    Michelle Mello, Professor of Law, Stanford Law School, and Professor of Health Research and Policy Stanford University School of Medicine

    Moderator:
    Kristin Madison, Professor of Law and Health Sciences, Northeastern University


    4:00 PM
    Break


    4:15 PM
    Breakout Sessions

    Breakout 1: Migration and EIDS

    Panelists:
    Dr. Elizabeth Barnett, Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine
    Alan Kraut, Professor of History, American University
    Polly Price, Associate Dean of Faculty and Professor of Law, Professor of Global Health, Emory University School of Law

    Moderator:
    Wendy Parmet, Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Health Policy & Law Northeastern University School of Law

    *******************

    Breakout 2: Re-emerging Diseases: What Can We Learn from the Cholera Epidemic in Haiti?

    Panelists:
    Brian Concannon, Executive Director, Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
    Mark Gottlieb, Executive Director, Public Health Advocacy Institute, Northeastern University School of Law
    Daniele Lantagne, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University School of Engineering

    Moderator:
    Dick Daynard, University Distinguished Professor of Law and President, Public Health Advocacy Institute, Northeastern University School of Law 

    *******************

    Breakout 3: Global Health Governance 

    Panelists:
    Ana Ayala, Director of Global Health Law LL.M. Program, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University School of Law
    Lance Gable, Interim Dean, Wayne State University Law School

    Moderator:
    Leo Beletsky, Associate Professor of Law and Health Sciences, Northeastern University


    5:30 PM
    Closing Reception


    Co-sponsors:
    Northeastern University School of Law and its Center for Health Policy and Law
    American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics

  • Are individuals responsible for their own health? Or does the health of individuals depend upon the health of their communities? And, can we have healthy communities without restricting individual choice? Conflicts between individual choice and collective action underlie many of the most contested and challenging debates relating to health and health care, from the very existence of Obamacare to government responses to the obesity and tobacco epidemics. This conference will bring together legal and public health scholars and practitioners from across the country to discuss and chart the role of individual choice and public action in response to these — and many more —  public health debates.

    Keynote Speakers: 

    Jon Hanson
    Alfred Smart Professor of Law and
    Director, Project on Law and Mind Sciences,
    Harvard Law School

    Sandro Galea
    Dean and Robert A Knox Professor,
    Boston University School of Public Health

    Program

    Friday, April 15, 2016

    8:00-8:30 AM Continental Breakfast
    8:30-8:45 AM Introductions

    Jeremy Paul, Dean and Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law
    Wendy Parmet, Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law; Director, Program on Health Policy and Law; Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Education and Research Support, Northeastern University School of Law, and  Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University

    8:45-9:45 AM Keynote Address

    Jon Hanson, Alfred Smart Professor of Law and Director, Project on Law and Mind Sciences, Harvard Law School

    9:45-11:00 AM Plenary Panel

    American Health: Individual Choice or Collective Destiny

    Panelists:
    Sarah Conly, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Bowdoin College
    Stuart Guterman, Senior Scholar in Residence, AcademyHealth
    Ilya Somin, Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law
    Ruqaiijah Yearby, Associate Dean of Institutional Diversity and Inclusiveness; Professor of Law; Associate Director, Law-Medicine Center; Oliver C. Schroeder Jr. Distinguished Research Scholar, Case Western Reserve University School of Law

    Moderator:
    Gary Young, Director, Northeastern University Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Research, and Professor of Strategic Management and Healthcare Systems, Northeastern University

    11:00-11:15 AM Break
    11:15 AM-12:30 PM Morning Breakout Panels

    Panel A: The Politics of Public Health

    Panelists:
    Stephanie Morain, Assistant Professor, Center for Medical Ethics & Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine
    David Rochefort, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Northeastern University
    Jeffrey Sánchez, Representative for the 15th Suffolk/Norfolk District and Chair, Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, Massachusetts House of Representatives

    Moderator:
    Aziza Ahmed, Associate Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law


    Panel B: Global Health

    Panelists:
    Gregg Gonsalves, Research Scholar in Law, Lecturer in Law and Co-Director, Global Health Justice Partnership, Yale Law School
    Joia Mukherjee, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Global Health Equity, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
    Richard Wamai, Assistant Professor of African American Studies, Northeastern University

    Moderator:
    Brook Baker, Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law


    Panel C: Obesity and Chronic Diseases

    Panelists:
    Andrea Grimes P

    arker, Assistant Professor, College of Computer and Information Science and Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University
    Lindsay Wiley, Associate Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
    Cara Wilking, Consulting Attorney, Public Health Advocacy Institute, Northeastern University School of Law

    Moderator:
    Richard Daynard, University Distinguished Professor of Law and President, Public Health Advocacy Institute, Northeastern University School of Law

    12:30 PM-1:45 PM Lunch

    Keynote
    Sandro Galea, Dean and Robert A Knox Professor, Boston University School of Public Health

    1:45-3:00 PM Plenary Panel: Commercial Speech, Individual Responsibility and Public Health

    Panelists:
    Amy Kapczynski, Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Global Health Justice Partnership, Yale Law School
    Aaron Kesselheim, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Associate Physician, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
    William Sage, James R. Dougherty Chair for Faculty Excellence, Texas Law (The University of Texas at Austin), and Professor of Surgery and Perioperative Care, Dell Medical School

    Moderator:
    Wendy Parmet, Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law

    3:00-3:15 PM Break
    3:15-4:30PM Afternoon Breakout Panels

    Panel A: Health Insurance

    Panelists:
    Allison Hoffman, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
    Mark Hall, Fred and Elizabeth Turnage Professor of Law and Public Health and Director, Health Law and Policy Program, Wake Forest University School of Law
    Rich Hirth, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Health Management and Policy, and Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan

    Moderator: 
    Kristin Madison, Professor of Law and Health Sciences, Northeastern University


    Panel B: Addiction

    Panelists:
    Daliah Heller, Clinical Professor and Director of Public Health Practice, CUNY School of Public Health
    Mary Lou Leary, Deputy Director of State, Local and Tribal Affairs, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
    Josiah Rich, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Alpert Medical School, Brown University

    Moderator:
    Leo Beletsky, Associate Professor of Law and Health Sciences, Northeastern University


    Panel C: Vaccines: Translating Legal Theory to Practice

    Panelists:
    Alfred DeMariaState Epidemiologist and Medical Director, Bureau of Infectious Disease, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
    Mary Holland, Research Scholar and Director, Graduate Lawyering Program, New York University School of Law
    Peter Jacobson, Professor of Health Law and Policy and Director, Center for Law, Ethics and Health, University of Michigan School of Public

    Moderator:
    Jean McGuire, Professor of Practice, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University