Last May, we said a fond farewell to four of our fellows at the S.J. Quinney College of Law’s commencement exercises. We wish Alexis Juergens, Jason Perry, Breanna Marchesani, and Andrew Unsworth the very best of luck as they move on to establish themselves within the legal community and thank them for all the hard work they contributed to the Center for Law and Biomedical Sciences. We hope to cross paths with all of them again soon, whether it be professionally or socially.
However, it’s wonderful to see our returning fellows this academic year, and we are thrilled to hear of the exciting opportunities they’ve had over the summer (and this fall!) to further their education in the law and biomedical sciences:
Katie Cox finished her Cohort 1 research with ARDRAW Small Grant Program and received funding approval to begin her Cohort 2 research, which focuses on the relationship between accommodation needs of workers with disabilities who wish to continue working or return to work and how accommodation is legally understood across industries. In June, she attended the Law and Society Annual Meeting in Toronto with Professor Leslie Francis and met many scholars engaged in sociolegal and disability-related research. Throughout all this, Katie continues to work as a Law Clerk at the Disability Law Center.
Brian Flach worked at the Salt Lake firm Thorpe North & Western doing IP prosecution and patent litigation for clients ranging from garage inventors to a Fortune 100 company. This year he will be the first fellow LABS has funded for a fellowship out of internal funds and he is eager to work with the LABS faculty on various projects.
Erika Hanson spent her summer in Chicago at the firm Leydig, Voit & Mayer primarily doing patent prosecution and some patent litigation. She also took Professor Brown’s new seminar course, The Opioid Crisis, which debuted this last summer at the U, and loved it. She will continue as a fellow for the Center for Medical Innovation this school year.
Maura Murphy remained on the U’s campus over the summer working for both the Technology and Venture Commercialization office as a Contract Associate and with the Office of Athletics Compliance. In addition to her LABS fellowship for Ancestry, Maura is externing this fall semester at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis and will be working with both the Enforcement and Eligibility departments conducting research, working on cases with different universities, and working with high school coaches, prospective student athletes and high schools to aid in the eligibility process.
Carlos Quijada has been a fellow for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, Public Health Division, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) branch in Atlanta, Georgia this summer. He has spent his time there researching and drafting numerous memorandums for Senior Attorneys on topics such as the opioid epidemic, water-borne infectious disease, intellectual property, global health and medical malpractice litigation. Furthermore, he will participate in the CDC’s Public Health Law Program for the next two months, joining a team dedicated to the scientific evaluation of how laws factor in the cause, distribution and prevention of disease and injury.
Jessica Van Wagoner interned over the summer with the United States Patent and Trademark office in Denver as an Examiner drafting Office Actions for their Solar Cell unit. At the end of July, she attended the Loyola Patent Interview Program in Chicago, a two-day event which allows students from around the nation to seek out and interview for employment opportunities.
Along with our six returning fellows, we are excited to welcome seven new fellows to the LABS community this year. The fellowships are sponsored by various departments across the university campus and also law firms and companies within the Salt Lake area.
Program on Medical Ethics and Humanities
Maya Anderson
Center for Medical Innovation
Lindsay Bockstein
Erika Hanson
Bret Huffaker
Utah Center for Educational ELSI Research (UCEER)
Shad Edwards
Patrick Neville
Carlos Quijada
ARDRAW Small Grant Program
Katie Cox
Center for Law and Biomedical Sciences
Brian Flach
College of Nursing
Amy McDonald
Ancestry
Maura Murphy
Maschoff Brennan IP Fellowship
Rick Rose
Conflict of Interest Office
Jessica Van Wagoner
LABS looks forward to the upcoming events that will be held at the College of Law this year and forging new associations. Later this fall, the Utah Law Review will host their annual symposium on “The Opioid Crisis: Paths Forward to Mitigate Regulatory Failure” on November 30, 2018. With this, and other activities, we are following up on the discussions that began at the Opioid Summit held on April 23, 2018. In addition, the fifth annual Law and Biomedicine Colloquium series will begin January 9 and run through February 27, 2019. The Colloquium is a class for students to meet outstanding scholars and practitioners in areas of the law who focus on issues involving the law, healthcare, and biosciences. The class is also open to the public and the Center welcomes all who wish to attend.
We are excited for the LABS community to further expand and add great contributions to the work/research in the law and biomedical sciences. Here’s to another great academic year!
Angela Turnbow is an academic coordinator at the S.J. Quinney College of Law. She provides support for the Utah Law Review, the Center for Law and Biomedical Sciences, and the Environmental Dispute Resolution Program.