Global Public Health Law: A Transdisciplinary Approach

Add to Calendar: Add to Calendar: 2026-01-14 12:00:00 2026-01-14 13:00:00 Global Public Health Law: A Transdisciplinary Approach Event Description This is an in-person event for students only. Anyone else can attend virtually by registering. CLE credit available for virtual attendance As traditionally conceived, public health law focuses primarily on what lawyers do—counseling public health agencies and litigating disputes. By contrast, the transdisciplinary model of public health law seeks to connect lawyers, scientists, public health practitioners, and others in a shared effort to (a) understand and quantify the critical (yet often unseen) role that law plays in shaping population health, and (b) develop, advocate for, implement, and evaluate evidence-based legal interventions to prevent disease and reduce injuries. This presentation will discuss a forthcoming book Professor Berman is co-authoring that connects this transdisciplinary approach to Global Public Health Law. As the book defines it, Global Public Health Law is the use of the law as a tool to protect and advance population health in jurisdictions around the globe—encompassing everything from local laws to international agreements. Using a wide range of public health topics as examples, the book examines how laws and institutions at the local, national, regional, and international levels intersect and influence one another, and how they ultimately contribute (positively or negatively) to health outcomes. About the Speaker Micah Berman is the Stephen F. Loebs Professor in Health Services Management and Policy at The Ohio State University’s College of Public Health. He is also a Professor of Law at The Ohio State University's Michael E. Moritz College of Law. His research explores the intersection between public health research and legal doctrine, and he is a co-author of The New Public Health Law: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Practice and Advocacy (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 2022). His research has been funded by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the National Cancer Institute, the World Health Organization, the American Heart Association, the Ohio Department of Medicaid, and other sources, and he has published extensively in leading public health, medical, and legal journals. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to public health and tobacco control through both research and advocacy, Professor Berman has received the David P. Rall Award for Advocacy in Public Health from the American Public Health Association (2021) and the John Slade Award from the Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco (2023). Prior to joining Ohio State, Berman established and directed policy centers in Ohio and Massachusetts that developed innovative model ordinances and provided policy support to state and local public health programs. He has also served as a senior advisor to the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, as a visiting scholar at the WHO's Center for International Cooperation on Tobacco Control (in Montevideo, Uruguay), and as a member of the NIH’s Council of Public Representatives. Before turning his focus to public health, Berman was a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and an associate with the law firm Stinson LLP. He received a JD with distinction from Stanford Law School and a BA with highest honors in Public Policy from Brandeis University. Download the Reading Materials. Virtual School of Law School of Law America/New_York public