Health law scholar to address presidential DNA and the public's right to know

Abstract

October 27, 2008

Writer: Drew Bloodworth , 706/542-5172, lawprstu@uga.edu Contact: Cindy Herndon , 706/542-5172, cindyh@uga.edu

Health law scholar to address presidential DNA and the public's right to know

Note: This lecture was cancelled due to inclement weather, which caused unexpected travel difficulties for the speaker.

Athens, Ga. - The University of Georgia School of Law's 104th Sibley Lecture, titled "Presidential DNA and the Public's Right to Know the (Future) Health of Its Leader," will be delivered by Boston University's Utley Professor George J. Annas. The lecture will be held Nov. 13 at 4:30 p.m. in the law school's Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom and is free and open to the public.

Specializing in health law and bioethics, Annas has authored or edited 17 books, most recently "Public Health Law" and "American Bioethics: Crossing Human Rights and Health Law Boundaries." He has also written regular features for the Hastings Center Report, the American Journal of Public Health and the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The law school is privileged to host such a respected legal scholar as George Annas," Georgia Law Associate Dean Paul M. Kurtz said. "His insights on the American public's right to know the health of its chief executive should prove especially relevant in this presidential election year."

At Boston University, Annas teaches in the School of Public Health, the School of Medicine and the School of Law and serves as chair of the Department of Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights. He is the founder and first director of the university's Law, Medicine and Ethics Program and co-founder of Global Lawyers and Physicians, a transnational professional association of lawyers and physicians working together to promote human rights and health.

Annas is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and co-chair of the American Bar Association's Committee on Health Rights and Bioethics (Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section). He has held several government regulatory positions, including vice chair of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, chair of the Massachusetts Health Facilities Appeals Board and chair of the Massachusetts Organ Transplant Task Force.

A three-time Harvard University graduate, Annas earned his bachelor's degree in economics in 1967, his Juris Doctor in 1970 and his master's in public health in 1972. After law school, he served as a judicial clerk to Justice John V. Spalding of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Established in 1964 by the Charles Loridans Foundation of Atlanta, the Sibley Lecture Series honors the late John A. Sibley, a 1911 graduate of Georgia Law, and hosts renowned legal academics.

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