Michelle Mello

Michelle Mello is Professor of Law and Public Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Mello conducts empirical research into issues at the intersection of law, ethics, and health policy. She is the author of more than 120 articles and book chapters on the medical malpractice system, medical errors and patient safety, research ethics, the obesity epidemic, pharmaceuticals, clinical ethics, and other topics. Among other current projects, Dr. Mello is studying disclosure and compensation of medical injuries as the recipient of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Investigator Award in Health Policy Research.

Dr. Mello is Director of the Program in Law and Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health and Chair of the School’s Institutional Review Board. She teaches courses in public health law and public health ethics. Dr. Mello serves as a Key Consultant to the National Program Office of RWJF’s program in Public Health Law Research. She holds a J.D. from the Yale Law School, a Ph.D. in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.Phil. from Oxford University, where she was a Marshall Scholar, and a B.A. from Stanford University. In 2013, she was elected to the Institute of Medicine.