• State and local legislators, agencies and others – are taking the lead to improve the health and nutrition of their communities. We work with:
  • Washington State Department of Agriculture
  • Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
  • Baltimore Food Policy Task Force, along with the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
  • National Conference of State Legislatures
  • Individual legislators in Maryland, California, Connecticut
  • Maryland Attorney General, Office of Consumer Protection

 

• Non-profit organizations – are working to implement and guide change on the state, national, and international levels in areas such as tobacco control.  Over the past several years we have worked with:
  • School Food Focus, a project of Public Health Solutions (New York City)
  • Washington Sustainable Food & Farming Network (WSFFN)
  • National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), an independent academy of state health policymakers working together to identify emerging issues, develop policy solutions and improve state health policy and practice
  • Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), a coalition of international NGOs that support tobacco control legislation in countries around the world
  • Berman Institute of Bioethics, John Hopkins University
  • Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor

 

• The O'Neill Institute of National and Global Health Law – advances law as a fundamental tool for solving critical health problems in global, national and local communities.  The Institute unites faculty from Georgetown's law and health campuses, http://www.law.georgetown.edu/oneillinstitute/

 

• National centers and commissions – have helped public health agencies and practitioners with policy options to meet the new mandates for emergency preparedness and homeland security - in addition to fulfilling their traditional roles of responding to natural disasters.  Recent clients include:
  • National Commission on Children and Disasters, http://www.childrenanddisasters.acf.hhs.gov/
  • Georgetown Climate Center, http://www.law.georgetown.edu/gcc/
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH)

 

• Community health workers (CHWs) – are front-line public health workers who are trusted members of the community being served; they provide direct outreach into low-income, under-served or “hard-to-reach” communities. Our clients and collaborators include:
  • American Public Health Association, CHW Special Primary Interest Group (SPIG)
  • American Association of CHWs (AACHW), a national CHW network comprised of CHW leadership and allies from across the country
  • Center for Sustainable Health Outreach (CSHO), which was a federally funded partnership with the University of Southern Mississippi
  • Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers (MACHW)
  • Community Outreach Workers’ Association of MD (COWAM)
  • Virginia Center for Health Outreach (VCHO)
  
  

Recent projects

Students analyze the legal and administrative structure for health policy and funding in major programs that are implemented at the federal and state level.  The range of issues includes:

Food and nutrition - As the obesity rates in the U.S. continue to rise, particularly in young children, many cities are dealing with the double burden of obese and nutritionally deficient children and adults, particularly in low income areas. Research indicates that children and adults in low-income areas do not have equal access to nutritious foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. We work with school systems that want to purchase unprocessed local food, as well as state and local governments that are using their land use, regulatory and development powers to support delivery systems for fresh food.

Genetic discrimination – As science and technology continues to advance, people more than ever can use genetic testing to learn about their genetic dispositions to disease and hereditary traits.  In May 2008, the federal government enacted the Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which prohibits the use of genetic testing for employment or health insurance.  GINA specifically omitted long-term, disability and life insurance, and left states to regulate this area with varying levels of protection from genetic discrimination for individuals seeking such insurances.  Parallel issues exist with marketing regulations being adopted by the Federal Trade Commission and states for genetic testing services that are sold to consumers.

• State Deceptive Trade Practices and False Advertisement, Anya Prince