USC Law & Global Health Collaboration

Virtually all significant global health topics raise challenging legal issues, which are better understood and addressed when considered from multidisciplinary perspectives. The USC Law & Global Health Collaboration advances scholarship and provides monthly lectures and public discussions at the intersection of law and global health.

Beginning in 2014, an exploratory working group of faculty from across the University established the groundwork for the current collaboration. They began by approaching a single topic — the criminalization of HIV transmission — through a multidisciplinary lens. The group discovered broad commonalities in terms of content and concerns no matter the topic: the importance of how laws are written as much as how they are implemented; public health and societal effects; the use of the narrative in framing reference to law; and the relevance of cultural constructs both in how we conceive research questions and how we understand results. Integration of these concepts has been key to the work of the Collaboration since that time.

Since 2016, and with the support of the USC Research Collaboration Fund, the USC Law & Global Health Collaboration (LGH) has stimulated multidisciplinary research and brought attention to work at these intersections being done locally and globally. We have become known for cutting-edge and creative exploration of a range of topics at the intersection of law and global health.

LGHC seeks to engage our community on the links between law and global health through, for example, public events, bringing outside speakers together with faculty, post-docs, students and others to engage in discussion of issues of mutual interest. These public lectures and panels help us refine our thinking, engage collaborators and generate interest about selected issues, particularly among students. We invite interested students, faculty and staff to partake in a free exchange of ideas and collaboration on these important topics.

Currently, the Law & Global Health Collaboration is engaged in two thematic areas of work: Self-Care, Health, Law and Rights; and COVID, Health, Law and Rights. Details can be found below. Each working group comprises faculty and students from several schools across USC. Through a series of convenings and events, group members determine how to translate new knowledge, insights and questions into research proposals and educational materials integrating the diverse expertise of the USC community and external collaborators.

Worldwide, people are increasingly obtaining and utilizing health technologies on their own, instead of having to rely on health professionals for every aspect of their care. These self-care interventions include, for example, injectable hormones, abortion pills, and new tools and apps for self-treating, self-testing and self-monitoring. When optimally designed and implemented, self care can increase access for hard-to-reach populations, relieve some of the burdens of service delivery that otherwise fall on overburdened healthcare professionals and health systems, improve quality of life for people who would otherwise go without care, and, most importantly, increase privacy, autonomy, and ultimately the value and acceptability of these interventions for users. Nonetheless, in some cases, reliance on self care has been found to decrease the quality and availability of care, particularly for the most vulnerable and isolated populations in the U.S. and around the world, and hence increases health disparities.

Self-care interventions need to be understood with attention to the different legal, economic, social and cultural contexts that may affect their use and effectiveness. In the last year, we have convened a working group on self-care interventions, law and human rights which brings together faculty and students from across USC schools and disciplines. The Self-Care Working Group has met several times over the last year to discuss conceptual and methodological questions, host a series of meetings, as well as carry out actionable research and publications. Such collective work has helped to identify gaps in knowledge where further research within and across disciplines might be useful, and foster synergies amongst academics and practitioners concerned with various aspects of self-care interventions, in particular the links between health, technology, ethics, rights, gender, policy, and law. LGH faculty have been involved in a range of self-care research with partners around the world. Work in this area will continue into the next academic year.

LGH Self-Care Working Group:

Yaniv Bar-Cohen, M.D., (Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, USC)
Alexander Capron (University Professor, Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy and Ethics, Professor of Law and Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, Co-Director, Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics, USC)
Juan De Lar, PhD (Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, USC)
Laura Ferguson, PhD, SM, MA (Research Director Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, Director, Program on Global Health & Human Rights, Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine Keck School of Medicine, USC)
Sofia Gruskin, JD, MIA (Director, Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, Professor of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, Professor of Law, Gould School of Law, USC)
Charles Kaplan, PhD (Emeritus Research Professor, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, USC)
Doe Mayer (Professor Emeritus, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Mary Pickford Chair, School of Cinematic Arts, USC)
Peter Redfield, PhD (Professor of Anthropology, Robert F. Erburu Chair in Ethics, Globalization and Development, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, USC)
Donna Spruijt-Metz, MFA, PhD (Director, mHealth Center for Economic and Social Research, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
Bill Swartout, PhD (Chief Technology Officer, Institute for Creative Technologies, Research Professor, Computer Science Department, Viterbi School of Engineering, USC)

Select LGH self-care event recordings and reports:

“Self-Care Interventions for Health and Well-Being,” Manjulaa Narasimhan, World Health Organization, joined by discussants Peter Redfield, Professor of Anthropology, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, USC, and Yaniv Bar-Cohen Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, USC (March 3, 2022)
“Self-Care and Health: The Interplay of Technologies, Ethics, and Human Rights – Are We Going Back to the Future, or is it a Whole New World?” in partnership with USC mHealth Collaboratory & USC Institute for Creative Technologies (Oct. 9, 2020)
“Plan C: Reframing Self-Managed Abortion as Empowering Rather than Dangerous,” Francine Coeytaux, Founder, Plan C (Feb. 20, 2020)

Sofia Gruskin, IIGH Director, has also interviewed various experts in the series “This Week In Global Health” on the intersections of self-care, law and rights. Watch here.

Peer-reviewed articles are available; please click here.

In the context of COVID, the law has been recognized to play a key role in seeking to ensure equitable access to testing, medicines and vaccines, as well as perpetuating abuses against already marginalized and under-resourced populations. As existing and newly developed, laws, policies and regulations have been used by countries to guide COVID responses, the Law & Global Health Collaboration has been seeking to understand the impact of the range of policy responses countries are taking, their immediate impacts on vulnerable and marginalized populations, and their broader implications for food and housing security, sexual and reproductive health and rights, access to health and social services, and health outcomes, more generally.

To address the social, economic, legal and environmental inequalities influencing health during the COVID-19 pandemic, Law and Global Health Collaboration faculty are playing a part in ensuring the ongoing global response unfolds as equitably as possible; studying and addressing both new and heightened inequalities caused by the pandemic; and sharing new learnings with students, partners and the world. We have fostered partnerships within USC and with community-based organizations to identify COVID-related activities and research at the intersection of law and health in Los Angeles and across the world. As part of these efforts, we have organized webinars on the impacts of COVID-19 on key and marginalized populations. Additionally, in partnership with Amref Health Africa and with funding from the INCLUDE Platform, LGH faculty have been studying the impacts of COVID-19 and national responses to it on vulnerable and marginalized populations. Work in this area is ongoing.

Select LGH COVID events, recordings and reports:

“From the Global to the Local: Public Health, Poverty Alleviation, Gender Equality and Social Justice,” Helene Gayle, President and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust (Feb. 8, 2022)
“(Un)Just Recovery: Addressing COVID-Related Inequalities in Los Angeles,” USC IIGH, USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute, USC Sol Price Center for Social Innovation, USC-Keck Human Rights Clinic, the USC Keck Division of Global Emergency Medicine and the 2021 USC SDG Leadership Academy (Sept. 16, 2021)
“Emotional Contagion in Times of COVID: From Fear to Hope,” Heidi Larson, Director of The Vaccine Confidence Project (Sept. 2, 2021)
“Conflicts Between Law and Public Trust in the Name of Public Health,” Mandeep Dhaliwal, Director of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) HIV, Health and Development Group; Gerson Sorto, Supervising Attorney with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County(NLSLA); Allan Maleche, Executive Director of Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN) (Feb. 10, 2021)
“The SDGs and #JustRecovery in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Los Angeles: What impact are COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts having on social justice and equity gaps in local communities?” 2021 NASPAA Annual Conference
“What Will it Take to Distribute a COVID-19 Vaccine in the U.S?” Jen Kates, Senior Vice President and Director of Global Health & HIV Policy Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (Dec. 10, 2020)
“Addressing the Dual Challenges of Climate Change and COVID-19,” David Nabarro, World Health Organization Special Envoy on COVID-19 (Sept. 29, 2020)

Sofia Gruskin, IIGH Director, has also interviewed various experts in the series “This Week In Global Health” on the intersections of COVID, law and rights . Watch here.

Peer-reviewed articles are available; please click here.

In recent years, highly visible transgender communities in countries around the world have brought to public attention the myriad forms of discrimination experienced by transgender people, the implications for their health, and the significance of national and subnational legal and policy environments in shaping their health outcomes. The USC Law & Global Health Collaboration worked closely with transgender researchers and activists to support research and public events intended to contribute to advancing transgender health and rights.

The working group brought together key faculty and graduate students from the LGHC Steering Committee and Keck, Gould, Dworak-Peck, Dornsife, Annenberg and CHLA; each member was an expert in their respective field(s) or actively engaged with transgender issues. Over the course of four years, working group members collectively published in peer-reviewed journals and other media, developed research proposals, and mounted a number of highly visible and well-attended USC events.
The 2018 revision to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) removed “gender dysphoria” from the mental and behavioral disorders chapter, and introduced “gender incongruence” to a new chapter on conditions related to sexual health. We worked with WHO, as well as GATE and partners in several countries, on mechanisms and guidelines to help countries implement the ICD-11 reclassification. In 2019, we were invited by the World Association for Sexual Health Conference to participate in a consultation on a new initiative on trans health and rights. That meeting gave members of the Working Group the opportunity to meet with other organizations to strategize about how to move from the strategic victory of the ICD-11 revisions (vis-a-vis transgender health) toward actual implementation in ways supportive of the health and rights of transgender people around the world.

Select LGH transgender events, recordings and reports:

“In Transition: Gender [Identity], Law & Global Health Research Symposium,” with global and national experts (April 21, 2017)
“Transgender Youth Care in the New Millennium,” Johanna Olson-Kennedy M.D., director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (March 23, 2017)
“Generating Research to Support Transgender Populations,” Sofia Gruskin Director, and Laura Ferguson Research Director, Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (Jan. 25, 2017)
“Legal and Other Barriers to Protection for Transgender Asylum-Seekers in the U.S.,” Niels Frenzen, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Immigration Clinic at the USC Gould School of Law (Nov. 22, 2016)
“Maximizing Sexual Health & Rights of Transgender Populations: The Changing Role of the International Classification of Diseases,” Sofia Gruskin, Director, Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (Oct. 11, 2016)
Law School hosts discussion about transgender health, Sofia Gruskin, Director, Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (Oct. 28, 2016)
“In Transition: Gender [Identity], Law & Global Health,” David Cruz, Gould School of Law & Sofia Gruskin, Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (Sept. 13, 2016)

Peer-reviewed articles are available; please click here.

The Law & Global Health Collaboration benefits immensely from a multidisciplinary Steering Committee comprising faculty from across USC. Professor Sofia Gruskin, Director of the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, leads this collaboration alongside USC Gould Professor Alexander Capron, and USC Research Professor Emeritus Charles Kaplan from the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. The Secretariat and Steering Committee collaborate with the Working Groups to guide the work in each thematic area.

Steering Committee:

Alexander Capron (University Professor, Scott H. Bice Chair in Healthcare Law, Policy and Ethics, Professor of Law and Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, Co-Director, Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics, USC)
Laura Ferguson, PhD, SM, MA (Research Director Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, Director, Program on Global Health & Human Rights, Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine Keck School of Medicine, USC)
Sofia Gruskin, JD, MIA (Director, Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, Professor of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, Professor of Law, Gould School of Law, USC)
Charles Kaplan, PhD (Emeritus Research Professor, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, USC)
Doe Mayer (Professor Emeritus, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Mary Pickford Chair, School of Cinematic Arts, USC)
Peter Redfield, PhD (Professor of Anthropology, Robert F. Erburu Chair in Ethics, Globalization and Development, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, USC)