Eat, drink, and mingle with experts. Learn about their work and how they got there.
Georgetown Law
Gewirz Student Center, 12th Floor
120 F Street, N.W., Washington, DC
Thursday, Nov. 3
5:00 – 8:30 P.M.
AGENDA
5:00 – 5:45 Welcome Reception
5:45 – 6:00 Keynote by Gian Luca Burci, former Legal Counsel of the World Health Organization
6:00 – 7:30 Panel Discussion
7:30 – 8:30 Networking Reception
Confirmed Expert Panelists
Gian Luca Burci
Former WHO Legal Counsel and Adjunct Professor of International Law, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
Gian Luca Burci is Former Legal Counsel of the World Health Organization, and Adjunct Professor of Law, Graduate Institute in Geneva. Mr. Burci worked for WHO from 1998 to 2016, advising WHO’s director-general and senior management team, as well as its governing bodies, on a broad range of international, constitutional and procedural issues. Mr. Burci’s work focuses on WHO’s role in global health governance, its status under international law, and the interactions between WHO’s normative and policy-setting functions and other areas of international law and policy.
Among other achievements, he was closely involved with the conclusion of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and its recent Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, the revision and implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005), and the WHO reform. Since 2010, Mr. Burci has been teaching a course on international health law at the Graduate Institute and collaborating on a joint degree in international law between the Graduate Institute and Georgetown University School of Law. Mr. Burci is also a Senior Fellow at the Global Health Programme of the Graduate Institute and is currently a Distinguished Visitor from Practice at Georgetown Law.
Between 1989 and 1998, Mr. Burci served in the Office of the Legal Counsel of the United Nations, where he dealt with international law issues related to the activities of the UN, particularly of a political nature. He was the focal point for UN economic sanctions and part of the team that negotiated the 1996 memorandum of understanding with Iraq for the implementation of the Oil-for-Food Programme. Before joining the UN, Mr. Burci worked at the international affairs division of ENEA, the Italian agency for nuclear and alternative energies, and in the Department of Technical Cooperation of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Mr. Burci is the author of a book on WHO and numerous articles on topics ranging from UN economic sanctions and peacekeeping operations, the succession of states, as well as international health law and WHO law and practice.
LT Andrea Gormley
Senior Regulatory Health Project Manager, for the Counter-Terrorism and Emergency Coordination Staff in the Office of the Center Director in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)
She serves as an Emergency Coordinator, acting as Operations Chief for drug product emergency response efforts. She also serves as a Senior Regulatory Health Project Manager coordinating medical countermeasure product development for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats.
Prior to joining CTECS, LT Gormley served with the Office of Unapproved Drugs and Labeling Compliance where she worked with the Internet and Health Fraud Team performing labeling reviews and issuing enforcement actions such as warning letters.
LT Gormley serves on active duty with the U.S. Public Health Service. She graduated with distinction from Ohio Northern University earning both a Juris Doctor and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree.
Valerie Madamba
Food Regulatory Counsel, Blue Apron
GULC alumna and regulatory attorney with experience across the spectrum of FDA-regulated products: food, dietary supplements, cosmetics, drugs, and medical devices. She began her career as a Food regulatory attorney at the FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel, went on to practice medical device law as an FDA Associate at Hogan Lovells, and then worked with medical product teams as an in-house advisor and legal counsel at Novartis and Bayer. Long devoted to all things food-related, Valerie recently joined the legal team at Blue Apron, a fast-growing ingredient and recipe delivery service. As the company’s Food Regulatory Counsel, Valerie advises on a range of legal and regulatory issues, including food safety, compliance, and marketing/communications.
Jessica P. O’Connell
Special Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP
She advises companies and trade associations on complying with US regulatory requirements enforced by FDA, USDA, FTC, and state regulators for the manufacture and sale of foods, dietary supplements, cosmetics, OTC drugs, and animal products, and the import and export of all FDA and USDA-regulated products. Before joining Covington, she was an Associate Chief Counsel in FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel from 2008 to 2014. While at FDA, Jessica counseled various components of FDA and HHS on legal issues primarily related to foods, dietary supplements, and cosmetics, including the implementation of FSMA, and import-specific issues. Prior to joining FDA, Jessica was a law clerk for Hon. Nancy B. Firestone at the US Court of Federal Claims. Jessica received a bachelor’s degree in biology and physics from University of Virginia, an MPH from Johns Hopkins, and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.
Aaron Schwid
Senior Legal Advisor, Global Health Advocacy Incubator, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Aaron Schwid is an international human rights attorney, specializing in foreign law and public health. Aaron currently serves as the Senior Legal Advisor for the Bloomberg Global Health Advocacy Incubator. Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Advocacy Incubator provides training, mentoring, strategic planning, and technical assistance in public health advocacy to groups working on Bloomberg Philanthropies’ growing number of public health projects around the world, including road safety, obesity prevention, tobacco control, and data for health. In this role, Aaron is responsible for developing and implementing legislative, regulatory, and litigation strategies as an integrated part of the overall advocacy strategy for policy change. Since 2010, Aaron has been involved in international tobacco control policy as legal advisor to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. At CTFK, he oversaw the legislative and litigation strategy in several priority countries, including Russia, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Pakistan, and Turkey. Each of these countries enacted and implemented comprehensive tobacco control laws during his tenure. Aaron has served as an official NGO delegate at negotiations for the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control and the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade of Tobacco Products. He also helped to develop and maintain an online resource for tobacco control laws and litigation: tobacccocontrollaws.org. Aaron has worked in more than 40 countries around the world. He received a Juris Doctorate from The George Washington University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Brandeis University. He is licensed to practice law in Washington DC and California (inactive).
Moderated By
Ana Ayala
Global Health Law LL.M. Program Director, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University
She joined the O’Neill Institute in 2010, serving as a Law Fellow from 2010 to 2012 and an Institute Associate from 2012 to 2015. She holds a Master of Laws in Global Health Law from Georgetown University; a law degree from American University, Washington College of Law; and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and International Studies from the University of Chicago.
At the O’Neill Institute, Ana has worked on a variety of global health law areas, including health and human rights, tobacco control, reproductive health, infectious diseases, and global health governance. She has trained legal, medical, and public health professionals from around the world. She led the legal component of the World Health Organization’s implementation course for government officials on the International Health Regulations (2005) in order to strengthen governments’ ability to manage serious public health risks. Through her projects, Ana has worked extensively with a wide array of organizations, such as the World Health Organization (including the Pan American Health Organization), Open Society Foundations, and Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
Prior to joining the O’Neill Institute, Ana co-drafted the proposal for the resolution passed by the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2008 on access to medicines and the right to health and conducted analytical work on the implementation of a universal health care system in Lewis & Clark County, Montana. Ana has worked in a number of organizations, including Human Rights First, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), the Domestic Violence and Family Law Program at Ayuda, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Issues
Alcohol and Tobacco Control Food and Nutrition Global Health Law