Capron Tapped as Scholar in Residence

Capron will work with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health 

-By Gilien Silsby

USC Gould Professor Alex Capron has been appointed a Scholar in Residence in a new fellowship program launched by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Network for Public Health Law.

Capron, a globally recognized expert in health policy and medical ethics, is one of six law professors chosen from across the country to work with local or state health agencies on public health law issues. He will work with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to examine federal rules on human subjects research relating to the surveillance of pathogens and viruses.

“I am honored and excited about this appointment,” said Capron, holder of the Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy and Ethics at USC Gould and University Professor at USC. “I am looking forward to contributing to the work of the Department of Public Health and am sure that this experience will be very valuable in my teaching of public health law.”

The Scholars in Residence fellowship program brings together top legal health scholars to assist public health agencies in tackling pressing issues in the field. Its mission is to improve the teaching and scholarly work of the academicians through field experience as well as to provide public health agencies with access to legal experts.

“The program is a prime example of how The Network for Public Health Law advances the field of public health law,” said Doug Blanke, director of the Public Health Law Center. “In connecting the legal experts with those on the front lines, we get real-world examples of how law can be used to improve public health.”

Capron is co-director of USC’s Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics, a campus-wide interdisciplinary research and education center. A trustee of The Century Foundation and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, he also teaches at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Previously, Capron served as director of Ethics, Trade, Human Rights and Health Law at the World Health Organization in Geneva. He was also appointed by former President Bill Clinton to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission and served as president of the International Association of Bioethics.