News Archive
Noted Public Health Expert Interviewed Ahead of Feb. 16 McDonald-Merrill-Ketcham Lecture
02/13/2018
The Indianapolis Lawyer published an interview with a noted expert in public health law in advance of the IU McKinney School of Law’s annual McDonald-Merrill-Ketcham Award Lecture.
Scott Burris, J.D., Professor of Law and Public Health and Director of the Center for Public Health Law and Research at Temple University Beasley School of Law, will receive the award and present the lecture “Not Just for Lawyers: A Transdisciplinary Model of Health Law and Its Implications for Practice and Policy Change” at noon on Friday, February 16 in the Wynne Courtroom at Inlow Hall.
Since joining the Temple faculty in 1991, Burris’ research has focused on how law influences public health and health behavior. In the interview, Burris said his talk will focus on how law is used to further public health goals. He said despite the current anti-regulatory rhetoric in our politics, legislators are passing hundreds of health laws every session across the country. He said this verbal bombast has caused unnecessary diffidence in the public health world.
“If you want to make a difference, that’s where you’ve got to work,” he said. “I still think there is a certain amount of cultural hesitancy, (but) you couldn’t imagine modern public health without law.”
The story also touched on Burris’s early career, which began during the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He was the editor of the first systematic legal analysis of HIV in the country, and spent several years lobbying and litigating on behalf of people with HIV as an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union. He has served as a consultant to numerous United States and international organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Institute of Medicine and to the producers of the Oscar-winning film, “Philadelphia.”
Burris said working on the 1993 movie was a very personal, emotional experience. Read the complete interview with more details here.
The lecture and award presentation are scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. in the Wynne Courtroom and atrium of Inlow Hall, 530 W. New York St., Indianapolis. A light lunch is also planned at 11:30 a.m. in the atrium. This is a free event, but registration is required.
The event will provide two hours of continuing legal education credit.
