Health policy incorporates both ethical and political discussions integral to the research, development, distribution, and use of health technologies and medicine.

Ethical challenges concern ownership of drugs and personal biological information, interactions between patients and medical practitioners, the social and cultural impact of healthcare distribution and practices, and the complex financing, regulatory, and legal regime governing the healthcare system.

Researchers in health policy explore legal and philosophical theories of health systems, including rights to healthcare and distributive justice in health services allocation. A subset of health policy research is focused on exploring the economic, political, and environmental impacts on human health with the goal of developing legal interventions in the healthcare system that may help reduce disparities.*

Participating Researchers

• John Bartlett, PhD (Medicine and Global Health, The Center for AIDS Research, Duke Global Health Institute)
• Doriane Coleman, JD (Law)
• Harris Cooper, PhD (Education, Psychology and Neuroscience)
• Susan Eastman, MDiv, PhD (Bible and Christian Formation)
• Nita Farahany, JD, PhD (Law, Philosophy, Science & Society)
• Kim Krawiec, JD (Law)
• Arti Rai, JD (Law)
• Nimmi Ramanujam, PhD (Biomedical Engineering)
• Barak Richman, JD, PhD (Law, Business Administration)
• David Ridley, PhD (Business and Economics)
• Leigh Ann Simmons, PhD, MFT (Nursing, Center for Personalized and Precision Medicine)
• Donald Taylor, PhD (Public Policy, Community and Family Medicine and Nursing)
• Peter Ubel, MD (Business, Public Policy and Medicine)
• Jonathan Wiener, PhD (Law, Environmental Policy, Public Policy)
• Buz Waitzkin, JD (Science & Society)

Representative Courses

• Advanced Issues in Children and Family Law (Law)
• Children and the Law (Law)
• Criminal Law (Law)
• Designing Innovation for Global Health (Global Health)
• Genetics and the Law (Law)
• Genetics and Reproductive Technologies (Law)
• Health Care Law and Policy (Law)
• Health Policy (Public Policy)
• Influential Scientists and Policy Leaders in Science Policy (Genome, Public Policy)
• Introduction to the US Healthcare System (Public Policy)
• Management of Health Systems and Policy (Health Management)
• North Carolina Medicaid Systems and the Affordable Care Act (Public Policy)
• Science Law & Policy (Law)
• Taboo Trades and Foreign Markets (Law)

Relevant Links

• Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research
• Duke Population Research Institute
• Duke Global Health Institute
• Program for Global Health and Technology Access

* Please note that this information is also listed under the Health & Medicine topics page.