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

Getty Images Illustration of AI in Health Care
Commentary

Using Artificial Intelligence Tools and Health Insurance Coverage Decisions

cover link Using Artificial Intelligence Tools and Health Insurance Coverage Decisions
Halo over COVID vaccine bottle
Commentary

Accommodating Religious Objections to Vaccination Mandates

The Supreme Court decision concerning Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 raises new questions about the ability of private employers—including health-care organizations—to enforce vaccination requirements for employees who have religious objections. In this JAMA Health Forum commentary, Michelle Mello and colleagues consider the implications.
cover link Accommodating Religious Objections to Vaccination Mandates
COVID vaccines
Commentary

Vaccination Mandates—An Old Public Health Tool Faces New Challenges

Michelle Mello and colleagues write in this JAMA Network Viewpoint that civic values were eroded during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a groundswell of resistance to vaccines that have been a bedrock principle of U.S. public health policy.
cover link Vaccination Mandates—An Old Public Health Tool Faces New Challenges