Past Symposia

DePaul University’s Mary and Michael Jaharis Health Law Institute and the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology (CIPLIT®) hosted a one-day conference on pandemic diseases. The conference focused on “best practices” in responding to emerging pandemic diseases, including: (1) how public health systems around the globe and in the United States can detect and should respond to threats of pandemic disease; (2) how to develop technologies to diagnose and treat pandemic diseases; (3) how to protect against pandemic disease agents as weapons and what civil liberties may be affected in a pandemic disease outbreak; and (4) what rights people infected with pandemic diseases may have in regard to their privacy and treatment, as well as for any bodily property that may become involved in disease responses. The conference included panels of academics and practitioners addressing the specific issues and featured talks by two distinguished keynote speakers, who have been deeply involved in pandemic disease responses and initiatives: Lawrence Gostin--University Professor and Faculty Director, Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University--and Richard Wilder--Associate General Counsel, Global Health Program, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

At the forefront of the health care sector, medical practitioners are using technological advances to remotely deliver healthcare services to patients. This practice, known as telehealth, opens a new avenue that can potentially transform the healthcare delivery landscape. According to academics and commentators, telehealth may soon dramatically transform health care practices. If implemented correctly, modern digital technologies can reduce costs, expand accessibility, and increase quality of healthcare. Telehealth, however, can also introduce significant risks to providers and consumers. The 2016-2017 edition of the Annual Michael and Mary Jaharis Health Law Institute Symposium will focus on exploring the legal, ethical, and regulatory implications of health care providers’ uses of telehealth. Over the course of the program, legal and medical experts will discuss the top current issues and preview the challenges that lie ahead.

• Panel I:Contemporary Implementation Issues & Forthcoming Regulations
  
• Dr. Daniel Johnson, M.D., University of Chicago
• Nancy Kaszak, Illinois Telehealth Initiative at Partnership for a Connected Illinois
• Lisa Mazur, McDermott, Will & Emery
• Laura Messineo, Presence Health
• Telehealth Panel: Intellectual Property Valuation for Growth & Funding
  
• Scott Weingust, Stout Risius Ross Global Financial Advisory Services
• Panel II: Intellectual Property Considerations in Telehealth
  
• Dr. Kevin Noonan, Ph.D., McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP
• Howard B. Rockman, Howard B. Rockman PC
• Panel III: Ethics in the Field of Telehealth​
  
• Professor Lori B. Andrews, Chicago-Kent College of Law - ITT
• Anthony H. Chloe, Polsinelli
• Dr. Jeremy Young, M.D., University of Illinois at Chicago

DePaul's Journal of Health Care Law, the Jaharis Health Law Institute along with the Center for Intellectual Property (CIPLIT©), Law, and Technology, and the DePaul Journal of Art, Technology, and Intellectual Property welcome students, faculty, and practitioners to attend their annual Spring Symposium. At the forefront of the health care sector, medical practitioners, technological savants, and other professionals are working together to use technological advances to improve upon traditional practices. Their work has already had revolutionary effects in certain areas of medicine and many believe that we are only at the tip of the iceberg. However, in order to succeed, health care innovators must navigate through an increasingly complex set of statutory and administrative rules. The Spring Symposium will feature the insights of individuals who overcame these hurdles and the legal practitioners that aided their efforts.

The Jaharis Health Law Institute and DePaul's Journal of Health Care Law, in conjunction with Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science hosted its Annual Health Law Symposium that focused on the discussion surrounding the governmental and private collection of genetic material and information and the legal implications regarding such. In evaluating the topic from a legal standpoint, discussions facilitated concerning informed consent laws, their consequences, and the evolving precedents surrounding this engaging legal issue. 

Presented by the Jaharis Health Law Institute and DePaul Journal of Health Care Law, the symposium explored the changing landscape of pharmaceutical law & business. The symposium included a combination of keynote addresses and panel discussions on the current problems in the pharmaceutical business, what the pharma field is doing to remedy these issues, and the role of attorneys and business professionals in this new approach. The symposium covered all aspects of the past, present, and future of pharmaceutical development. 

Presented by DePaul's Jaharis Health Law Institute and Journal of Health Care Law, the 2013 Symposium, Crime & the Mentally Ill: New Directions for the Law, explored a broad range of legal issues related to people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. Expert lecturers and panelists discussed mental health issues in the criminal justice system with a particular focus on legal and policy considerations and they also highlighted different resources and other recent initiatives that have been implemented in Cook County, Illinois.

The 2012 symposium, Religion and Family Planning under the U.S. Constitution, explored and debated the constitutional questions implicated by federal legislation in support of family planning, contraception, and abortion programs. The event featured a panel of representatives from a wide range of religions that presented their particular doctrines on various reproductive issues. In addition to the panel, there was a debate that discussed constitutional issues related to repro whether Freedom of Religion or women's right of access to reproductive care should prevail at the points where they conflict.

The 2011 symposium presented by the Health Law Institute and ABA Special Committee on Bioethics & the Law brought together a panel of academic, health, and legal experts to address the use of social media by health care providers, patients and health care delivery systems. Social Media and Healthcare: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly offered attendees a chance to explore topics, including rights and legal issues related to the changing media environment.