GUMC Update

O’Neill Institute to Tackle Global Health and Policy Issues

May 1, 2007

Georgetown faculty, staff, administrators and students celebrated the launch of the university’s new, interdisciplinary health law institute April 19-20 by bringing together top leaders and thinkers in public health law and policy to discuss problems and solutions from a variety a range of areas.

It was a fitting start, given that the Linda and Timothy O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law was created to address issues from disease prevention to health care regulation.

The Institute—made possible by a $10 million donation from the O'Neills, both 1977 Georgetown graduates (Linda from the School of Nursing & Health Studies) and Tim from the Law Center)—is ambitious in scope, Georgetown President John J. DeGioia said during remarks opening the two-day launch.

"Linda and Tim have challenged us to do our very best thinking, our very best work, to realize the significant potential that Georgetown has to make a lasting and meaningful difference in global health," DeGioia said. "Our success will be measured in nothing less than lives saved. It is a daunting challenge, but it is also an enormous privilege to be in this position, and I could not be more grateful to Linda and Tim for their leadership and generosity."

"Not only will this be an institute that brings together the best researchers, the best people who think about these issues in an interdisciplinary way, but the real benefit, the real mark of this Institute will be the impact it has on the world," Georgetown Law Dean Alex Aleinikoff (LINK) added. "And located here where we are in Washington, at a university dedicated to thinking about the most pressing problems facing the world, I'm sure we will have an impact."

During her keynote address at dinner Thursday night, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Julie Gerberding thanked the O’Neills for their generosity, describing the new Institute as an "intersection of disciplines - the disciplines of law and health, nursing, health sciences—coming together to create an incubator for creative ideas."

"It's a gift to the university, but it's obviously a gift to our nation and to the world, and one that I think we at CDC will come to know and interact with and do our part to try to make that hub of creativity and influence be as powerfully strong as it can," Gerberding said.

The O'Neill Institute, a collaboration between the Law Center and NHS, features four centers, each focusing on a distinct area of health law and policy. The Center on Global Health is directed by Linda and Timothy O'Neill Professor of Global Health Law Lawrence O. Gostin; the Center on Health Care Financing and Organization is directed by Georgetown Law Professor M. Gregg Bloche; the Center on Health Regulation and Governance is directed by Georgetown Law Professor David Vladeck; and the Center for Disease Prevention and Health Outcomes is directed by Bernhard Liese, chair of the Department of International Health in NHS (pictured above).

"The O'Neill Institute will tackle issues of major consequence – those that will affect us, those that will affect our children," NHS Dean Bette Keltner said. "The O'Neill Institute will focus on global health, prevention and outcome, regulation and governance, and financing and organization for a range of health threats. Together, we can speak with a strong voice. Together, we will provide solutions." (At right, Keltner stands with NHS Professor Michael Stoto and GUMC EVP Howard Federoff.)

During academic ceremonies officially installing him in his new professorship, Gostin explained in his inaugural lecture why governments should care about health threats outside their borders, examined health inequities between rich and poor countries, and argued that the international community often ignores systemic health care problems in favor of focusing on "high-profile, heart-rending issues."

"No state, acting alone, can insulate itself from major health hazards," Gostin said. "Health threats inexorably spread to neighboring countries, regions and even continents. It is for this reason that safeguarding the world's population requires cooperation and global governance."

Submit your news at any time to the GUMC Office of Communications at gumccomm@georgetown.edu.

Copyright Georgetown University Medical Center 2007

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