Vice Dean and Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law
Professor Michael Risch joined the Villanova faculty in 2010 from the West Virginia University College of Law, where he directed the Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Law Program. Prior to joining the West Virginia faculty, he served as an Olin Fellow in Law at Stanford Law School. Professor Risch’s teaching and scholarship focus on intellectual property and internet law, with an emphasis on patents, trade secrets and information access. His articles have been published in the Stanford Law Review and Duke Law Journal, among others; online in the Yale Law Journal Online and PENNumbra; and less formally at the Madisonian, Prawfsblawg, and Patently-O blogs. Two of his articles have been cited by the United States Supreme Court. Professor Risch received his A.B. with honors and distinction in Public Policy and with distinction in Quantitative Economics from Stanford University, and his J.D. with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School. Prior to entering academia, he was a partner at intellectual property boutique Russo & Hale LLP in Palo Alto, California.
Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Copyright Office
Jordana Rubel works on a wide range of legal matters within the Copyright Office, including advising the Department of Justice on litigation matters and providing guidance to departments within the Copyright Office. Jordana joined the Copyright Office in 2018 after more than ten years as a litigator in private practice, where she represented clients on copyright, trademark, false advertising, and trade secret matters. She clerked for David Hamilton, now on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, when he was a district court judge in the Southern District of Indiana. She earned her JD from Emory University, her MEd from Harvard University, and her BA from Haverford College.
CoFounder, RightsClick
Steven’s extensive background in IP law and policy began as an attorney for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, after which, he served as senior counsel for Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Copyright Office and then as Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for the Global Intellectual Property Center of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Before co-founding RightsClick, he started the IP consultancy Sentinel Worldwide, and teaches copyright law at George Washington University Law School.
Senior Counsel, First Liberty Institute
Stephanie N. Taub serves as Senior Counsel with First Liberty Institute, focusing on litigation, appellate advocacy, and legal education.
While at First Liberty, her article on the rights of faith-based organizations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been published in the Texas Review of Law and Politics. She has also authored pieces published in National Review, the Daily Signal, the Washington Times, the Des Moines Register, and the New York Daily News. In 2017, Taub was named one of 15 recipients of the James Wilson Fellowship in natural law.
Before joining First Liberty, Taub worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Reed O’Connor in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Texas.
Taub is a Harvard Law School graduate in the class of 2014 and a Blackstone Fellow in the class of 2012. During law school, she served as Co-President of the HLS Christian Fellowship and Managing Technical Editor of the Harvard Human Rights Journal. Taub spent her law school summers defending religious liberty in public interest law firms and clerking in the Texas Office of Solicitor General.
For her undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California, Taub graduated summa cum laude, majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Philosophy.
Partner, Briscoe Prows Kao Ivester & Bazel LLP
Tony Francois is experienced in Water and Real Property Law, Land Use and Zoning, Environmental Regulation, Natural Resources Development, Agricultural Law, and Constitutional Law. He has represented homeowners, builders, farmers and ranchers, trade associations, and water districts in administrative, civil, and criminal proceedings before state and federal administrative agencies and state and federal trial and appellate courts. He is a member of the California State Bar and the Northern, Eastern, and Central Districts of California and the Districts of New Mexico and North Dakota, and has litigated cases in federal courts in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia, as well as the Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals. He has appeared before the Supreme Courts of California, Idaho, Nevada, and the United States.
Prior to attending law school, he served as an infantry officer in the United States Army, and was stationed in the former West Germany during the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Tony was an Attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation from 2012 to 2021. He was a lobbyist for 10 years, first with California Farm Bureau Federation from 2003 to 2007, and then with KP Public Affairs from 2007 to 2012. He was an attorney at McQuaid, Bedford & Van Zandt in San Francisco from 1999 – 2003.
Executive Director, Committee for Justice
Ashley Baker serves as Executive Director at the Committee for Justice. Her focus areas include the Supreme Court, regulatory policy, antitrust, and judicial nominations. Her writing has appeared in Fox News, USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Hill, RealClearPolitics, The American Spectator, and elsewhere. Ashley is also the founder of the recently-formed Alliance on Antitrust coalition. She has testified before the United States Senate on the topic of antitrust law.
Ashley is an active member of the Federalist Society, where she serves as a member of the Regulatory Transparency Project's Antitrust & Consumer Protection and Cyber & Privacy working groups. As a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association, she has served as a speaker on the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary.
As an expert on the judicial nominations process, Ashley worked closely on the efforts to confirm Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
Much of Ashley’s work is at the intersection of the courts, regulation, and technology. Ashley also engages in policy analysis and outreach on legislation and regulations related to these issues by writing op-eds, letters to Congress for committee hearings, and regulatory comments.
James G. Dinan University Professor, Carey Law School, University of Pennsylvania
Herbert Hovenkamp is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2008 won the Justice Department’s John Sherman Award for his lifetime contributions to antitrust law. In 2012 he served on the ABA’s Committee to advise the President-elect on antitrust matters. His principal writing includes The Opening of American Law: Neoclassical Legal Thought, 1870-1970 (Oxford, 2015); Antitrust Law (formerly with Phillip E. Areeda and Donald F. Turner) (22 vols., Aspen 2008-18); Principles of Antitrust (West, 2017); Creation Without Restraint: Promoting Liberty and Rivalry in Innovation (Oxford, 2012, with Bohannan); The Making of Competition Policy (Oxford, 2012, with Crane); The Antitrust Enterprise: Principle and Execution (Harvard, 2006); Federal Antitrust Policy: The Law of Competition and Its Practice (West, 5th ed. 2015); IP and Antitrust (2 vols., Aspen, 2017, with Janis, Lemley, Leslie, and Carrier); and Enterprise and American Law, 1836-1937 (Harvard, 1991). He has also co-authored casebooks in antitrust, property law, and a free open source casebook on innovation and competition policy. He has consulted on numerous antitrust cases for various government entities and private plaintiffs. He has two sons.
Head of AI Policy, Abundance Institute
Neil Chilson is the Head of AI Policy at the Abundance Institute. Prior to this position, he served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Growth and Opportunity. Chilson is a lawyer, computer scientist, and author of the book “Getting Out of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World.”
Chilson was previously the senior research fellow for Technology and Innovation at Stand Together, where he guided efforts to understand and promote the legal and cultural paradigms that best enable people to discover, innovate, and improve all our lives.
Before Stand Together, Chilson was the Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission, where he focused on the economics of privacy and blockchain-related issues. Previously, he was an attorney advisor to Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen. In both roles he advised Chairman Ohlhausen and worked with staff on nearly every major technology-related case, report, workshop, or other FTC proceeding since January 2014. Neil joined the FTC from telecom firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer. Neil is frequently quoted by the press and his work has appeared in numerous news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USAToday, and Newsweek. Neil has a J.D. from The George Washington Law School, a M.S. in computer science from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. in computer science from Harding University.
President, Harned Strategies LLC
Karen Harned is President at Harned Strategies LLC. Previously, she served as Executive Director of the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, a post she held from 2002-2022. Prior to joining the Legal Center, Ms. Harned was an attorney at a Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in food and drug law, where she represented several small and large businesses and their respective trade associations before Congress and federal agencies. She also served as Assistant Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma from August of 1989 to March of 1993. Ms. Harned received her B.A. from the University of Oklahoma in 1989 and her J.D. from The George Washington University National Law Center in 1995. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.
As Executive Director of the NFIB Small Business Legal Center, Ms. Harned commented regularly on small business cases before federal and state courts, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. She has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, NBC Nightly News, CNN, CNBC and MSNBC, as well as National Public Radio, CBS Radio, and radio outlets across the country. Her opinion editorials and articles regarding healthcare, lawsuit abuse, regulation, and other issues important to small business have been published in newspapers and other publications nationwide.
Ms. Harned has testified before Congress on the small business impact of regulation and the civil justice system. Additionally, she has conducted numerous webinars and legal compliance seminars for small business owners across the country on issues relating to employment law, including unionization and immigration.
Partner, Goodwin Procter LLP
Jaime A. Santos is a partner in the firm’s Appellate Litigation practice. Her work focuses on appellate matters and complex civil litigation in federal courts, and she has experience in a wide range of areas including ERISA litigation, patent litigation, constitutional law, and product litigation. Ms. Santos has been the primary author of dozens of briefs filed in the Supreme Court, many more briefs filed in federal courts of appeals and federal district courts, and she has presented oral argument in state and federal trial and appellate courts. Ms. Santos also co-hosts the Supreme Court podcast Strict Scrutiny.
Ms. Santos maintains an active pro bono practice. She has been counsel of record in numerous criminal, immigration, and civil rights appeals in the Fourth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits. She has also advocated on behalf of transgender litigants asserting constitutional claims before the Fourth Circuit and the Supreme Court, and represented a criminal defendant challenging his sentence before the Supreme Court. In 2015, Ms. Santos was honored by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights for her commitment to pro bono civil rights work.
In addition to her pro bono practice, Ms. Santos has been a thought leader in preventing and addressing bias and harassment in the legal profession. She speaks at conferences across the country and has published several articles on the topic. Since January 2018, she has advised numerous state and federal courts on improving the policies and processes governing inappropriate conduct in the workplace.
Ms. Santos serves on the MacArthur Justice Center Supreme Court & Appellate Advisory Board, and on the National Women’s Law Center’s Leadership Advisory Council.
Before joining Goodwin in 2013, Ms. Santos served as a law clerk to the Honorable George H. King of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and to the Honorable Raymond C. Fisher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In law school, she was a supervising editor for the Harvard Law Review.
Professor of Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School
Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
Aditya Bamzai is a professor of law at the University of Virginia. He teaches administrative law, civil procedure, computer crime and conflicts of law, and he has written about these and related subjects. He has argued cases relating to the separation of powers and national security in the U.S. Supreme Court, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, D.C. Circuit and other federal courts of appeals. From 2019 to 2021, he served as a Member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a federal agency charged with ensuring that the government’s national security efforts are balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties. Before entering the academy, Bamzai was an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, and an appellate attorney in both private practice and for the National Security Division of the Department of Justice. Earlier in his career, he was a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Partner, Kirkland and Ellis, LLP
John O'Quinn is a Partner in Kirkland's Washington, D.C. office. His practice focuses on litigation, including intellectual property disputes, commercial litigation, regulatory issues arising from or likely to lead to litigation, and other complex litigation matters at both the trial and appellate levels. He has extensive argument experience before both trial and appellate courts, and has argued in most of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, including the D.C. Circuit and the Federal Circuit. Mr. O'Quinn has been to trial multiple times, where he has examined expert and fact witnesses. Representative clients include Apple, Boeing, B. Braun Medical, Charter Communications, C.R. Bard, POET LLC, Siemens, and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
From 2006 to 2009, Mr. O'Quinn served in the United States Department of Justice. As Deputy Associate Attorney General, he was responsible for helping to oversee much of the government's civil litigation and reviewing proposed settlements of multi-million dollar civil cases brought by or against the government. As the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division, Mr. O'Quinn supervised over 100 attorneys charged with defending the constitutionality of federal statutes and regulations, representing the diplomatic and national security interests of the United States in court, and conducting significant Title VII, personnel, social security, Medicare and Medicaid-related litigation. Mr. O'Quinn worked with counsel from virtually every federal agency on complex civil litigation matters and personally directed significant cases defending the government's interests, arguing more than 20 cases in federal court. In February of 2009, Mr. O'Quinn was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service for his leadership in defending the Department of Defense in lawsuits challenging the detention and trial of enemy combatants captured abroad by United States Armed Forces.
Mr. O'Quinn was previously an associate with Kirkland from 2003 to 2006. While on leave from the Firm, he served as special counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary for the nomination of Chief Justice Roberts. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. O'Quinn was a law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge David Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
While at Kirkland, Mr. O'Quinn has also provided legal counseling and representation for individuals and organizations on a pro bono basis, including arguing a habeas petition on behalf of a defendant convicted of capital murder, and submitting FOIA requests on behalf of a civil rights organization.
Chief Manufacturing Development Center Officer, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Julie has more than 25 years of experience in clinical translation of cellular therapies and regenerative medicine products, including business management and board directorship experience. She has eight years of experience as an executive officer with a publicly traded company building services for cellular banking, including licensure of technology with more than 30 affiliates. She is an experienced scientist who excels at delivering innovation, driving milestones, maintaining sensitivity to financial considerations, building multidisciplinary teams, as well as strategic planning, project management, and regulatory expertise. Dr. Allickson has a history of creating value in clinical development and translation.
Vice President, Networks, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
Nathan Kaczmarek is Vice President for Networks at the Federalist Society. He began his legal career in Detroit representing nationwide clients in all phases of healthcare litigation and complex medical malpractice claims. He has since served as a Senior Legal and Policy Advisor in the U.S. House of Representatives and as Counsel for the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management in the U.S. Senate. Prior to overseeing the Networks, he was Director of the Practice Groups, the Regulatory Transparency Project, and the Article I Initiative for the Federalist Society.
Nathan holds degrees from Hillsdale College and Thomas M. Cooley Law School. He is a Liaison Representative for The Administrative Conference of the United States. He also serves as Vice President of the Associates of St. John Bosco, a Virginia based non-profit dedicated to Catholic high school and college students.
Chairman, Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths
Betsy McCaughey is a patient advocate and former Lt. Governor of New York State. In 2004, she founded and is now Chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (also known as RID), a nationwide educational campaign to stop hospital-acquired infections. RID has made hospital infections a major public issue. It has provided compelling evidence that preventing infection improves hospital profitability as well as saving lives, and RID has won legislation in 34 states and Washington, D.C. for public reporting of infection rates. RID has become synonymous with patient safety and clean hospital care.
Betsy McCaughey’s research on how to prevent infection deaths has been featured on Good Morning America, the CBS Morning Show, ABC’s 20/20, and many other national programs.
Betsy McCaughey is the author of more than one hundred scholarly and popular articles on health policy, infection, medical innovation, the economics of aging, and Medicare. Her writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New Republic, Policy Review, Forbes Magazine, New York Law Journal, Los Angeles Times, U.S. News & World Report, and many other national publications. Her 1994 analysis of the dangers of the Clinton health plan in The New Republic won a National Magazine Award for the best article in the nation on public policy. She has been profiled in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, and other publications.
Prior to entering the health policy field, Betsy McCaughey earned a Ph.D. in constitutional history from Columbia University. She is the author of two books on that subject. She has taught at Vassar College and Columbia University, and she produced prize-winning studies while at two think tanks, the Manhattan Institute and later the Hudson Institute.
From 1995 to 1998, she served as Lt. Governor of New York State. She focused on health issues, and her bills became models for legislation in many states and in Congress.
Executive Vice President, Goldwater Institute
Christina Sandefur is the Executive Vice President at the Goldwater Institute. She develops policies and litigates cases advancing healthcare freedom, free enterprise, private property rights, free speech, and taxpayer rights.
Christina is a co-drafter of the Right to Try initiative, now federal law, which protects terminally ill patients' right to try safe investigational treatments that have been prescribed by their physician but are not yet FDA-approved. She has won important victories for property rights in Arizona and works nationally to promote the Institute's Private Property Rights Protection Act, a state-level reform that requires government to pay owners when regulations destroy property rights and reduce property values.
Christina is the co-author of the book Cornerstone of Liberty: Private Property Rights in 21st Century America (2016). She is a frequent guest on national television and radio programs, has provided expert legal testimony to various legislative committees, and is a frequent speaker at conferences. She is the recipient of the 2018 Buckley Award in recognition of her leadership in the freedom movement, and she is an Advisory Board Member of the Network of enlightened Women. Christina serves on the board of the Phoenix Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and is a member of the executive committee for the Federalist Society's Regulatory Transparency Project: FDA & Health.
Christina is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Law and Hillsdale College.
Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein is Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement and Professor of the Practice in Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is also the Director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. He is the author of the Public Health Crisis Survival Guide: Leadership and Management in Trying Times, and the co-author of The Opioid Epidemic: What Everyone Needs to Know.
Previously, Dr. Sharfstein served as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from January 2011 to December 2014. In this position, he led efforts to align Maryland’s health care system with improved health outcomes, culminating in the adoption of a revised payment model for all hospital care for Maryland residents. He also oversaw the development of a statewide health improvement process with 18 local public-private coalitions and the reshaping of state’s approach to health information exchange, long-term care, and behavioral health.
From March 2009 to January 2011, Dr. Sharfstein served as Principal Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where he oversaw the agency’s successful performance management and transparency initiatives. From December 2005 to March 2009, as Commissioner of Health for Baltimore City, Dr. Sharfstein led innovative efforts that contributed to major declines in both overdose deaths and infant mortality rates. From July 2001 to December 2005, as minority professional staff and health policy advisor for Congressman Henry A. Waxman, Dr. Sharfstein was engaged in a wide range of oversight and legislative activities on health care topics, including emergency preparedness, HIV, and the politicization of science.
Dr. Sharfstein graduated summa cum laude with an A.B. in Social Studies from Harvard College in 1991. From August 1991 to August 1992, he worked on public health projects in Guatemala and Costa Rica with a Frederick Sheldon Prize Fellowship. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1996, from the Boston Combined Residency Program in Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center and Children’s Hospital in 1999, and from the fellowship in general academic pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine in 2001.
Dr. Sharfstein is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine (2014) and fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (2013). He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Medical Association. His awards have included the Jay S. Drotman Memorial Award from the American Public Health Association (1994), Public Official of the Year from Governing Magazine (2008) and the Circle of Commendation Award from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (2013).
Dr. Sharfstein lives with his family in Baltimore, Maryland.
Managing Director, Berkeley Research Group
Dan Troy is the Managing Director at Berkeley Research Group.
Prior to that, he was the Chief Business Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, and General Counsel of Valo in Boston, Massachusetts.
Prior to joining Valo, he served as the Senior Vice President & General Counsel of GlaxoSmithKline and was a member of its Corporate Executive Team. Dan joined GSK in September 2008 and was responsible for leading the company’s legal department in protecting GSK’s intellectual property; managing litigation; supporting business development transactions; and business compliance and risk management. In 2012, Dan led the integration team following the acquisition of Human Genome Sciences, which later resulted in the launch of Benlysta, the first lupus treatment in 50 years. Dan led GSK’s Contributions Committee in the US and also led the Government Affairs, Public Policy and Patient Advocacy team from 2012 until 2014.
Prior to joining GSK, he was a Partner at the Washington law firm Sidley Austin LLP, where he principally represented pharmaceutical companies and trade associations on matters related to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and government regulations. Dan was formerly Chief Counsel for the FDA, where he served as a primary liaison to the White House and the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Dan has chaired the American Bar Association's Section of Administrative Law and is a member of the American Law Institute. He currently chairs the US Chamber of Commerce Litigation Center. He has also chaired the Civil Justice Reform Group, as well as the PhRMA Law Section Executive Committee. He was the 2012 CPR Corporate Leadership Award recipient and, in 2013, was named a 'Legend in the Law' at the Burton Awards.
Dan holds a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and a Kent Scholar. After graduation from law school, he was a law clerk for the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Chief Manufacturing Development Center Officer, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Julie has more than 25 years of experience in clinical translation of cellular therapies and regenerative medicine products, including business management and board directorship experience. She has eight years of experience as an executive officer with a publicly traded company building services for cellular banking, including licensure of technology with more than 30 affiliates. She is an experienced scientist who excels at delivering innovation, driving milestones, maintaining sensitivity to financial considerations, building multidisciplinary teams, as well as strategic planning, project management, and regulatory expertise. Dr. Allickson has a history of creating value in clinical development and translation.
Chairman, Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths
Betsy McCaughey is a patient advocate and former Lt. Governor of New York State. In 2004, she founded and is now Chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (also known as RID), a nationwide educational campaign to stop hospital-acquired infections. RID has made hospital infections a major public issue. It has provided compelling evidence that preventing infection improves hospital profitability as well as saving lives, and RID has won legislation in 34 states and Washington, D.C. for public reporting of infection rates. RID has become synonymous with patient safety and clean hospital care.
Betsy McCaughey’s research on how to prevent infection deaths has been featured on Good Morning America, the CBS Morning Show, ABC’s 20/20, and many other national programs.
Betsy McCaughey is the author of more than one hundred scholarly and popular articles on health policy, infection, medical innovation, the economics of aging, and Medicare. Her writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New Republic, Policy Review, Forbes Magazine, New York Law Journal, Los Angeles Times, U.S. News & World Report, and many other national publications. Her 1994 analysis of the dangers of the Clinton health plan in The New Republic won a National Magazine Award for the best article in the nation on public policy. She has been profiled in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, and other publications.
Prior to entering the health policy field, Betsy McCaughey earned a Ph.D. in constitutional history from Columbia University. She is the author of two books on that subject. She has taught at Vassar College and Columbia University, and she produced prize-winning studies while at two think tanks, the Manhattan Institute and later the Hudson Institute.
From 1995 to 1998, she served as Lt. Governor of New York State. She focused on health issues, and her bills became models for legislation in many states and in Congress.
Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein is Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement and Professor of the Practice in Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is also the Director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. He is the author of the Public Health Crisis Survival Guide: Leadership and Management in Trying Times, and the co-author of The Opioid Epidemic: What Everyone Needs to Know.
Previously, Dr. Sharfstein served as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from January 2011 to December 2014. In this position, he led efforts to align Maryland’s health care system with improved health outcomes, culminating in the adoption of a revised payment model for all hospital care for Maryland residents. He also oversaw the development of a statewide health improvement process with 18 local public-private coalitions and the reshaping of state’s approach to health information exchange, long-term care, and behavioral health.
From March 2009 to January 2011, Dr. Sharfstein served as Principal Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where he oversaw the agency’s successful performance management and transparency initiatives. From December 2005 to March 2009, as Commissioner of Health for Baltimore City, Dr. Sharfstein led innovative efforts that contributed to major declines in both overdose deaths and infant mortality rates. From July 2001 to December 2005, as minority professional staff and health policy advisor for Congressman Henry A. Waxman, Dr. Sharfstein was engaged in a wide range of oversight and legislative activities on health care topics, including emergency preparedness, HIV, and the politicization of science.
Dr. Sharfstein graduated summa cum laude with an A.B. in Social Studies from Harvard College in 1991. From August 1991 to August 1992, he worked on public health projects in Guatemala and Costa Rica with a Frederick Sheldon Prize Fellowship. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1996, from the Boston Combined Residency Program in Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center and Children’s Hospital in 1999, and from the fellowship in general academic pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine in 2001.
Dr. Sharfstein is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine (2014) and fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (2013). He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Medical Association. His awards have included the Jay S. Drotman Memorial Award from the American Public Health Association (1994), Public Official of the Year from Governing Magazine (2008) and the Circle of Commendation Award from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (2013).
Dr. Sharfstein lives with his family in Baltimore, Maryland.
Managing Director, Berkeley Research Group
Dan Troy is the Managing Director at Berkeley Research Group.
Prior to that, he was the Chief Business Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, and General Counsel of Valo in Boston, Massachusetts.
Prior to joining Valo, he served as the Senior Vice President & General Counsel of GlaxoSmithKline and was a member of its Corporate Executive Team. Dan joined GSK in September 2008 and was responsible for leading the company’s legal department in protecting GSK’s intellectual property; managing litigation; supporting business development transactions; and business compliance and risk management. In 2012, Dan led the integration team following the acquisition of Human Genome Sciences, which later resulted in the launch of Benlysta, the first lupus treatment in 50 years. Dan led GSK’s Contributions Committee in the US and also led the Government Affairs, Public Policy and Patient Advocacy team from 2012 until 2014.
Prior to joining GSK, he was a Partner at the Washington law firm Sidley Austin LLP, where he principally represented pharmaceutical companies and trade associations on matters related to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and government regulations. Dan was formerly Chief Counsel for the FDA, where he served as a primary liaison to the White House and the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Dan has chaired the American Bar Association's Section of Administrative Law and is a member of the American Law Institute. He currently chairs the US Chamber of Commerce Litigation Center. He has also chaired the Civil Justice Reform Group, as well as the PhRMA Law Section Executive Committee. He was the 2012 CPR Corporate Leadership Award recipient and, in 2013, was named a 'Legend in the Law' at the Burton Awards.
Dan holds a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and a Kent Scholar. After graduation from law school, he was a law clerk for the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Executive Vice President, Goldwater Institute
Christina Sandefur is the Executive Vice President at the Goldwater Institute. She develops policies and litigates cases advancing healthcare freedom, free enterprise, private property rights, free speech, and taxpayer rights.
Christina is a co-drafter of the Right to Try initiative, now federal law, which protects terminally ill patients' right to try safe investigational treatments that have been prescribed by their physician but are not yet FDA-approved. She has won important victories for property rights in Arizona and works nationally to promote the Institute's Private Property Rights Protection Act, a state-level reform that requires government to pay owners when regulations destroy property rights and reduce property values.
Christina is the co-author of the book Cornerstone of Liberty: Private Property Rights in 21st Century America (2016). She is a frequent guest on national television and radio programs, has provided expert legal testimony to various legislative committees, and is a frequent speaker at conferences. She is the recipient of the 2018 Buckley Award in recognition of her leadership in the freedom movement, and she is an Advisory Board Member of the Network of enlightened Women. Christina serves on the board of the Phoenix Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and is a member of the executive committee for the Federalist Society's Regulatory Transparency Project: FDA & Health.
Christina is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Law and Hillsdale College.
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument Teleforum: Google v. Oracle
Michael Risch, Jordana Rubel, Steven M. Tepp
Google copied over 11,000 lines of computer code, called declaring code, owned by Oracle. Ten...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument Teleforum: Tanzin v. Tanvir
Stephanie Taub
This teleforum addresses the October 6, 2020, Supreme Court oral argument in FNU Tanzin v. Tanvir, which...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument Teleforum: Texas v. New Mexico
Tony Francois
As an act of original jusrisdiction, the Supreme Court appointed a river master to resolve...
Deep Dive Episode 137 – Antitrust Populism and the Conservative Movement
Ashley Baker, Herbert Hovenkamp
Regulatory Transparency Project's Fourth Branch Podcast
On October 7, 2020, the Federalist Society's Pennsylvania Student Chapter and the Regulatory Transparency Project...
Explainer Episode 16 – An Update on Antitrust and Big Tech
Neil Chilson
Regulatory Transparency Project's Fourth Branch Podcast
Recent weeks have been chock-full of headlines regarding antitrust and big tech companies, from the House...
Ford Motor Company v. Montana Eight Judicial Circuit Court - Post-Argument SCOTUScast
Karen Harned, Jaime A. Santos
featuring Karen Harned & Jamie A. Santos
On October 7, 2020, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Ford Motor Company v....
Courthouse Steps Oral Arguments Teleforum: Carney v. Adams
Michael R. Dimino
Free Speech & Election Law Practice Group Teleforum
In Delaware, there is a state constitutional provision that requires the state’s three highest courts...
Appointments Clause Back in the Supreme Court: Patent Office Judges as Principal or Inferior Officers
Aditya Bamzai, John C. O'Quinn
Federalism and Separation of Powers Practice Group Teleforum
Eleven months ago the Federal Circuit held that the Administrative Patent Judges who serve on...
It Can Be Done Live: The Future of Our Health
Julie Allickson, Nathan Kaczmarek, Betsy McCaughey, Christina Sandefur, Joshua Sharfstein, Dan Troy
A Four-Part Virtual Movie Premiere
The creators of the award-winning documentary, They Say It Can't Be Done, in partnership with the...
Deep Dive Episode 136 – It Can Be Done Live: The Future of Our Health
Julie Allickson, Betsy McCaughey, Joshua Sharfstein, Dan Troy, Christina Sandefur
Regulatory Transparency Project's Fourth Branch Podcast
The creators of the award-winning documentary, They Say It Can’t Be Done, in partnership with...