October 2, 2026
Bert Brandenburg joins as Executive Director, Liz Stokes as Managing Director, alongside launch of new centers on AI and Women’s Health
WASHINGTON, D.C... October 2, 2026 — The O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center today announced a new chapter of leadership and growth, welcoming Bert Brandenburg as Executive Director and Liz Stokes as Managing Director and launching two new centers focused on artificial intelligence and on women’s health.
The two new appointments will strengthen the leadership team led by Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute and Linda D. & Timothy J. O’Neill Professor of Constitutional Law and Global Health Policy. “The Institute is embarking on a dynamic new direction that will expand our firm commitment to the Institute’s mission, vision, and values: to promote, protect, and advance health for all,” Goodwin said. “With the addition of Bert and Liz and our amplified emphasis on women’s health and expanded thought leadership on AI, we are well positioned to both meet the challenges of the current moment and chart a path forward that positions the Institute for its next phase of growth and impact.”
The two new centers, which will launch this fall, reflect O’Neill’s continued commitment to producing rigorous, world-class scholarship and policy solutions that respond to today’s most pressing national and global health challenges. Increasingly, these include the growing role that artificial intelligence is playing in both treating and maintaining health, and the ongoing fight for women’s health and reproductive justice. The Institute’s outstanding thought leadership on matters of Medicaid, infectious disease, HIV, addiction, food safety, reproductive health, and community health will continue to thrive.
“Professor Goodwin is a brilliant steward, leader, and scholar,” said Professor Larry Gostin, the Founding Director of the O’Neill Institute. “She is simply exceptional. Now, with her recruitment of Bert and Liz, O’Neill could not be better poised to meet the challenges of these times and help shape the future of national and global health.”
Bert Brandenburg, J.D., who began as Executive Director last month, joins O’Neill with an extensive background spanning government, nonprofit leadership, policy development, public affairs, and Georgetown University. He previously served as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and as a founding advisory committee member of the Janet Reno Endowment at the Center for Youth Justice at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
Brandenburg’s government service includes presidential appointments as acting Deputy Director of the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service from 2024-25, and Director of Public Affairs and chief spokesman for Attorney General Janet Reno. He led a team on the federal government’s National Performance Review, served as a domestic policy advisor on the Clinton-Gore Presidential Transition Team, and worked as Counsel for a member of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.
Brandenburg also led Justice at Stake, a nonpartisan network of more than 50 organizations working to keep courts impartial and independent, and Appleseed, a network of 17 publicinterest justice centers in the United States and Mexico. He has chaired the boards of OpenSecrets and the National Institute on Money in Politics, and served on the boards of the Task Force on American Democracy and the Lois Roth Endowment. He has been published and quoted widely in media and scholarly journals.
Brandenburg earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and his B.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.
Liz Stokes, PhD, JD, RN, joins O’Neill as Managing Director in late September 2026. She is a nurse, attorney, and ethicist whose scholarship and leadership focuses on end-of-life policy, reproductive health, and the ethical and legal implications of artificial intelligence in clinical practice. She currently serves onthe PhD faculty at the Berkley School of Nursing at Georgetown University. She previously served as Director of the Center for Ethics and Human Rights at the American Nurses Association, where she led national ethics and behavioral initiatives and the Minority Fellowship Program.
Dr. Stokes’ earlier legal and regulatory experience includes service at the D.C. Board of Nursing and The Hanover Insurance Group. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of The American Association of Nurse Attorneys and the D.C. Bar Association Lawyer Assistance Committee. Her expertise has been featured in national and international media, including Morning Joe on MSNBC, NBC News, and an award-winning feature in The New York Times among other news platforms.
She received her PhD in Nursing Ethics from Duquesne University School of Nursing, her J.D. from University of Richmond School of Law, and her nursing degree from the University of Virginia.
“I am thrilled to begin working with Bert and Liz on these exciting new initiatives,” Goodwin said. “Their deep experience in the legal and ethical aspects of health care, particularly in regard to AI and women’s health, will create a strong foundation for the O’Neill Institute’s expansion into these critical new areas.”
About the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law
The O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University is the premier think tank for health law, scholarship, and policy in the world. Drawing on the expertise of a diverse and interdisciplinary team of lawyers, researchers, academics, administrators, and public policy experts, O’Neill produces cutting-edge research and analysis across a broad range of national and global health law issues. Its experts bring experience from academia, government, civil society, private practice, and nongovernmental organizations, and its work spans numerous initiatives dedicated to advancing health for all.
About the Leadership
Michele Goodwin is the Linda D. & Timothy J. O’Neill Professor of Constitutional Law and Global Health Policy at Georgetown Law and Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute. Dr. Goodwin is an award-winning author, whose commentaries appear in the NY Times, The Nation, LA Times, Mother Jones, The Hill, The Atlantic, Newsweek, and Ms. Magazine among others. She is a leading scholar in health law, constitutional law, and reproductive justice, with works appearing in the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, NYU Law Review, Cornell Law Review, and California Law Review among others. She is the author and editor of six books, more than two hundred articles and commentaries, and has testified before Congress and state legislatures on issues ranging from public health to reproductive rights. She is one of the most cited health law scholars in the world.
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Media Contact:
Noah Friedman
noah@friedman.studio