Collaborations in Health Law and Policy
ATLANTA - Courtney Anderson and Erin Fuse Brown are the newest faculty members to be hired by the College of Law as part of the Second Century Initiative (2CI). 2CI is Georgia State University’s signature program to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in cutting-edge research fields across campus.
The College of Law (COL) participated in two health-related 2CI awards in 2010, which created three new faculty lines in the law school, two new faculty lines in the Institute of Public Health (IPH), and one new faculty line in the Institute of Health Administration in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business. Anderson joins the faculty cluster with the Institute of Public Health that is focused on achieving health justice through improving health equity and reducing health disparities. Fuse Brown joins the faculty cluster with the Institute of Health Administration that is focused on law, policy, and ethics in the governance of businesses in the fields of health care, life sciences, and biotechnology. 
"We are delighted to have attracted such talented new faculty who are eager to engage in interdisciplinary collaborations," said Steve Kaminshine, Dean of the COL. "Courtney and Erin both bring a range of expertise that enriches our legal education curriculum and our research programs. They also join with our existing health law faculty to add further depth and strength to our nationally recognized health law program."
Anderson studied finance and business management at the University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 2003, and enrolled in Harvard Law School that fall. During and since law school, Anderson’s scholarship and practice have centered on transactional law and community and economic development.
As an associate at Sidley Austin in Chicago, Anderson was a member of the real estate group, where her work focused on corporate and financing transactions. Her pro bono activities at the firm fostered her interest in affordable housing and economic development. In 2010, she moved to Washington, D.C., to join the Harrison Institute for Public Law at Georgetown University Law Center. As a Fellow in the Institute’s Housing and Community Development clinic, she supervised students who were assigned to clinic cases, and she also taught a seminar course. She earned an LL.M. in advocacy while at Georgetown.
"Environmental hazards, segregated neighborhoods, and dilapidated housing all exacerbate adverse health outcomes in vulnerable populations," said Anderson. "This position through 2CI offers the chance to collaborate with the Institute of Public Health and other entities in the Atlanta area to understand best practices to eradicate these inequities." This coming year, Anderson will be teaching courses on property law and on law and social welfare.
Anderson joins Associate Professor Laura Salazar in this three-faculty 2CI cluster collaboration between the COL and the IPH. Hired in 2011 by the IPH, Salazar is a social scientist with a Ph.D. in community psychology whose research interests include HIV/AIDS and adolescents. The IPH is seeking to fill the third faculty line in this 2CI cluster with an epidemiologist.
Fuse Brown was most recently a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and a Fellow in ethics and health policy with ASU’s Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics. Previously Fuse Brown had practiced in the health care group of Ropes & Gray LLP’s San Francisco office and served as a law clerk for Judge Alan C. Kay on the U.S. District Court in Honolulu. She obtained her JD and MPH degrees from a dual degree program at Georgetown University Law Center and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The health care industry has long been of interest to Fuse Brown, whose father is a physician. "I knew I didn’t want to become a physician myself [but] was always interested in the broader health care industry and the broken health care system of the U.S.," Fuse Brown said. "The more I studied it, it solidified that interest."
This year Fuse Brown will teach courses on administrative law and on the financing and delivery of health care. She sees her position as bridging the business and regulatory sides of health care. "That vision of the Second Century Initiative really struck me as being a strong statement on the part of the university, that they’re committed not only to this particular topic but to interdisciplinary learning and teaching," Fuse Brown observed.
Fuse Brown is the second law faculty member to join the 2CI health care business cluster. Assistant Professor Yaniv Heled, who joined the COL in 2011 and was the first law professor hired in this 2CI cluster, focuses his research and teaching in emerging biotechnologies and intellectual property. Assistant Professor Daniel Montanera was hired this year in the Institute of Health Administration and completes this three-member 2CI faculty cluster. Montanera’s research focuses on physician-insurer interactions and the impact on consumer health care.
"We are truly excited that our new faculty in these 2CI clusters will have the opportunity to build on existing relationships across the campus, enhance our research capacity, and focus on these important health law fields with our 2CI partners," said Charity Scott, Director of the Center for Law, Health & Society.
Stacie P. Kershner, JD
Associate Director, Center for Law, Health & Society