September 25, 2025
The O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law today announces that Professor Lawrence O. Gostin, Georgetown University Distinguished University Professor, is retiring from his role as co-faculty director of the O’Neill Institute. He remains on the Georgetown Law faculty and will now serve as the founding director of the O’Neill Institute, following an extraordinary and prolific decades-long career that has shaped and defined the field of global health law. Gostin has expressed that in these critical times of attacks on health, he is doubling his energies to defend health and human rights. Dr. Michele Bratcher Goodwin has been announced as the faculty director of the O’Neill Institute.
“Larry’s visionary work has defined the legal dimensions of global health, and his contributions continue to influence and inspire, making him one of the most significant and influential legal scholars of our time. His legacy lives in the laws and policies he helped to create, and in the people he has mentored and the communities he has uplifted throughout the world,” said Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute.
“Founding the O’Neill Institute with the generous gift from Linda and Tim O’Neill has been the honor of my life. And, knowing that the legacy will flourish under the incomparable Michele Goodwin brings me enormous joy and optimism for our future,” said Professor Gostin. “The O’Neill Institute has been a pioneer in our field, from reproductive rights, health care, HIV/AIDS, and addiction to global health and human rights, and beyond. All of this is the work of our team, from center directors to staff and from communications to events. I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart.”
In 2007, Professor Gostin founded the O’Neill Institute, now one of the world’s leading centers for scholarship, technical assistance, policy, and advocacy in national and global health. Professor Gostin has shaped public policy and law through major health crises, including AIDS, SARS, Ebola, MERS, Zika, COVID-19, and mpox. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked with the White House, federal public health agencies, and governors in the United States, as well as the WHO, GAVI, and the World Bank. Today, he is on the front lines, standing up for science, public health, and justice in the United States and globally.
“I wish to express my deep gratitude and admiration for Larry Gostin as he steps down as co-faculty director of the O’Neill Institute. Georgetown Law has the immense privilege and honor of serving as the academic home for one of the world’s leading experts in health law,“ said Joshua C. Teitelbaum, the interim dean of Georgetown University Law Center and executive vice president of Georgetown University.
In partnership with Oscar Cabrera, Gostin spearheaded the creation of the WHO/PAHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law at the O’Neill Institute, first designated in 2017, and recently renewed through 2029. These efforts have cemented the O’Neill Institute’s role in shaping the legal and policy frameworks that protect and promote health worldwide.
“Larry is a force of nature, whether in his pioneering academic work, his service on many boards and advisory committees, or as a committed advocate and fearless critic. His achievements are a testament to his ability to combine academic excellence, prolific research, and global health leadership while elevating the concerns and rights of the most vulnerable,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.
“In founding and leading the O’Neill Institute, Larry harnessed Timothy and Linda O’Neill’s generous gift to put the Law Center’s health law efforts on the map, connecting us with global institutions such as the World Health Organization and The Lancet and building a remarkable team that has taken on national and international health crises from AIDS to mental health to drug addiction,” added Interim Dean Joshua C. Teitelbaum.
Professor Gostin’s impact on global health is not limited to government and policy. He is the most cited legal scholar in the world and the most cited health law scholar. His reach extends to mentees who now serve in government, as professors, and as judges and jurists.
“Larry has always encouraged those around him to think critically and act boldly. His legacy is not just in the accolades he has received, but in the generations of leaders he has nurtured and the positive change he has catalyzed in the world,” noted Linda and Timothy O’Neill, the founding donors of the O’Neill Institute.
“For this next phase of the O’Neill Institute, we are fortunate to have Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin continuing as faculty director. In the two years since Michele joined Larry as co-faculty director, she has led with great vision and energy, and I look forward to working with her for years to come,” added Interim Dean Joshua C. Teitelbaum.