FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS
TENEILLE R BROWN
I research law and the biosciences, with an emphasis on cognitive and social neuroscience, genetics, and mental health. My work often explores false dichotomies embedded in the law that are revealed by a more nuanced understanding of our biology. I enjoy incorporating the psychology of stigma, blame, and agency into evidence, torts, and criminal law doctrine. In terms of methodology, I merge empirical, theoretical, and doctrinal approaches, and frequently draw upon my training in normative medical ethics.
DANIEL AARON
My research examines how the law shapes life and death in the United States and the legal and social trends that explain the fall in American life expectancy. This involves studying breakdowns in regulatory and legal systems that contribute to American mortality and wrestling with how to repair them. To this end, I have published articles on the intersection of food and drug law, administrative law, tort and multidistrict litigation, tobacco, racial inequity, corporate power, and regulatory capture.
JORGE CONTRERAS
I serve as director of the College of Law’s Program on Intellectual Property and Technology Law. I have been involved in the area of genomics law and policy since the Human Genome Project, and have conducted a range of research related to intellectual property, technical standardization, antitrust law and science policy. I have served on the Advisory Council of the National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Institutes of Health Council of Councils, and advisory boards and committees of numerous other governmental agencies. I have testified and appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, the Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission.
My forthcoming book, The Genome Defense (New York: Algonquin, 2021) details the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, which ended the practice of gene patenting in America.
LESLIE FRANCIS
My research interests lie at the intersection of normative ethics, bioethics, and health law. My primary current interests include disability and disability law, privacy especially with respect to health information, reproductive ethics, issues of justice in health care, and infectious disease and public health ethics. I am currently at work on a book titled States of Health: Federalism and Bioethics that will address the political, legal, and ethical questions raised by deep differences among states in a single polity not only about abortion but also with respect to many other issues, from access to health care and the availability of experimental therapies to protection against the spread of infectious disease.
HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH AREAS