Michelle Mello

Michelle Mello Stanford

Michelle Mello, JD, PhD

  • Professor, Health Policy
  • Professor, Law
(650) 725-3894 (voice)

Biography

Michelle Mello is Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Health Policy at Stanford University School of Medicine.  She conducts empirical research into issues at the intersection of law, ethics, and health policy.  She is the author of more than 230 articles on medical liability, public health law, the public health response to COVID-19, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, biomedical research ethics and governance, health information privacy, and other topics.
 
The recipient of a number of awards for her research, Dr. Mello was elected to the National Academy of Medicine at the age of 40.  From 2000 to 2014, she was a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she directed the School’s Program in Law and Public Health.
 
Dr. Mello teaches courses in torts, public health law, and health policy.  She holds a J.D. from the Yale Law School, a Ph.D. in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.Phil. from Oxford University, where she was a Marshall Scholar, and a B.A. from Stanford University. 

In The News

Older physician and young patient
Commentary

Promoting Fairness in Screening Programs for Late-Career Practitioners

SHP's Michelle Mello argues there are late-career physician programs that can balance patient safety with procedural fairness.
Promoting Fairness in Screening Programs for Late-Career Practitioners
An illustration of vaccine injections
Commentary

Guidance for Clinicians Navigating Conflicting Vaccination Recommendations

SHP’s Michelle Mello and former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky offer recommendations to clinicians struggling to follow new vaccine guidelines.
Guidance for Clinicians Navigating Conflicting Vaccination Recommendations
Michelle Mello, Stanford Legal Podcast
Commentary

Navigating Uncertainty and Unprecedented Shifts in Federal Health Policy

Stanford Law’s Michelle Mello—also a professor of health policy—discusses how sweeping changes in federal health policy are reshaping public health—and leading states to fill the void.
Navigating Uncertainty and Unprecedented Shifts in Federal Health Policy