September 17, 2015

MEDIA CONTACT: KAREN TEBER (KM463@GEORGETOWN.EDU)

(SEPTEMBER 17, 2015)—Georgetown Law’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health now offer a program awarding dual master of laws (LL.M.) and master in public health (M.P.H.) degrees for students seeking to understand public health practice and the role of law in solving critical health challenges.

The LL.M./M.P.H. dual degree program will facilitate the integration of both global health law and public health academic programs. Through the dual degree program, students will earn both the LL.M. degree in Global Health Law from Georgetown Law and the M.P.H. degree from Johns Hopkins.

The Bloomberg School’s M.P.H. degree offers students a population-based perspective on health, along with rigorous training in epidemiology, biostatistics, management sciences and the environmental, biological, behavioral and social factors that influence the health of populations and communities.

The LL.M. in Global Health Law offers lawyers the opportunity to advance their knowledge and skills through focused studies in core legal and policy courses on global health, individual and public health, human rights, trade law, bioethics, international economics, environmental law, biotechnology, and science.

“This collaboration between Johns Hopkins, widely regarded as the top public health school in the country, and Georgetown Law’s LL.M. degree program, considered one of the best of its kind, is a powerful one,” said Georgetown Law Dean William M. Treanor. “It will offer students invaluable practical skills in better addressing pressing challenges at the intersection of public health and law.”

“Individuals seeking this dual degree will gain hands-on expertise and training, but also have incredible opportunities to work with our faculty and other students on projects throughout the world.” says Dean Michael J. Klag of the Bloomberg School. “This new dual degree program also benefits from the existing expertise of our faculty in public health law.”

“With every year, our LL.M. program has been growing both in size and in quality,” says Ana S. Ayala, director of the Global Health LL.M. program. “The collaboration is a noteworthy accomplishment for us. The dual degree program will not only allow its graduates to become even more marketable in the traditional public health space, but also promote their role as lawyers ready to tackle public health challenges at the local and global levels.”

The two institutions share two other dual degree programs – Juris Doctor and Master of Public Health (JD/M.P.H.) degrees and a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health (M.D./M.P.H.) degrees.

Students interested in the LL.M./M.P.H. Program must be admitted to both Georgetown Law LL.M. program and the Bloomberg School M.P.H. program in order to participate in the dual LL.M./M.P.H. program.

Eligible candidates must apply and be accepted into the full-time MPH program at the Bloomberg School and also separately apply and be accepted into the LL.M. program at Georgetown University Law Center’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law.

Students in the LL.M./MPH program will earn LL.M. degree in Global Health Law degree from Georgetown and a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins.

For further information on the program, contact Professor Stephen Teret (steret1@jhu.edu /410-955-3995) or Professor Jon Vernick (jvernic1@jhu.edu/410-955-7982) at Hopkins or Ana Ayala (asa58@law.georgetown.edu/202-662-9462) at the O’Neill Institute.

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