National Health Law Writing Competition

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Health Law and Policy Program

The Tenth Annual AUWCL National Health Law Writing Competition听

We are pleased to announce听the Tenth听Annual AUWCL National Health Law Writing Competition is now open. This competition is听designed to encourage law students to write scholarly papers on current topics of interest relevant to health law and/or food and drug law. Current 2L, 3L, and 4L (part-time) JD and LLM students enrolled in a U.S. law school at the time of paper submission听are听eligible to participate. PAPERS M猫咪社区appT听MEET COMPETITION RULES AND REQUIREMENTS. Certificates of Participation will be awarded to all participants.

Prizes

First Place: $1,500
Second Place: $1,000
Third Place: $500

Many thanks to our 猫咪社区app University Washington College of Law alumni for generously sponsoring the competition prizes.

The submission portal is now open and will close on Monday, May 5 at noon ET!

Please direct all questions to health@wcl.american.edu.

The competition portal is now open!

Competition Rules & Requirements

Past Winners

Congratulations to Our 2023-2024 Winners

FIRST PLACE

McCall Johnson
William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada-Las Vegas
Paper title: 鈥淏eyond Dobbs: Faith-Based Resistance to State Abortion Laws Under
State RFRA鈥�

SECOND PLACE

Andrew McGirty
Case Western Reserve University School of Law听Paper title: 鈥淐racking Causation: The Need for a Workable Link Between the
Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act鈥�

Third Place

Beth Williams
Georgia State University College of Law
Paper title: 鈥淭he Increasing Criminalization of Pregnancy鈥�

Honorable Mention

Thomas Feil
Seton Hall University School of Law
Paper title: 鈥淭aking Your Medicine: Insulating the Drug Price Negotiation Program
from Fifth Amendment Challenge

Meet Our Judges

Gidget Benitez

Gidget Benitez听is an accomplished Government Affairs Director at AARP, specializing in federal prescription drug and Medicaid policy. In this role, she drives legislative strategies, regulatory advocacy, and equity-focused initiatives to improve healthcare access for older 猫咪社区apps. Previously, Gidget served as Health Policy Counsel to U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), leading policy, appropriations, and committee work on Medicare, Medicaid, FDA regulations, and reproductive rights. She also acted as the Congresswoman鈥檚 liaison to the House Democratic Task Force on Aging and Families and the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus. Gidget holds a Juris Doctor from 猫咪社区app University Washington College of Law and a Bachelor of Science with certificates in Criminal Profiling and Behavioral Forensics from the University of Central Florida. An alumna of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Graduate Fellowship Program, she is a licensed attorney in Maryland and an avid Marvel fan.

Christopher J. (鈥淐J鈥�) Frisina

Christopher J. (鈥淐J鈥�) Frisina is a senior associate in Alston & Bird LLP鈥檚 Health Care Practice Group and focuses his practice on health care fraud, waste, and abuse as well as compliance matters, including the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law, Civil Monetary Penalties, and the False Claims Act. CJ has advised a variety of health care providers and suppliers, including hospital systems, retail and specialty pharmacies, long-term care and senior living facilities, and clinical laboratories. He has represented his clients in criminal, civil, and administrative investigations and routinely assists clients in responding to government inquiries, including from the Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the HHS Office of Inspector General, and the Office of Personnel Management.

Erin Greene

Erin听Greene is the 猫咪社区app Lead for Global Regulatory Policy and Innovation at听Takeda. She focuses on Oncology Regulatory Affairs and leads policy initiatives on Diversity in Clinical Trials, New Approach Methods (NAMs), Model Informed Drug Development (MIDD), and Pediatric Oncology. Since 2019,听Erin听has been a member of the International Council for Harmonization (ICH) M15 MIDD Expert Working Group. Previously,听Erin听was a Senior Manager of International Regulatory Sciences and Policy at Pfizer, where she led the 猫咪社区app and international policy and advocacy strategy on Patient Focused Drug Development (PFDD), expedited regulatory pathways, MIDD, scientific dialogue between regulators and sponsors, and pediatrics.听Erin听has worked in health law and pharmaceutical policy since 2014, with roles in state government affairs for the Association for Accessible Medicines and as a health policy analyst for Consumers Union.听Erin听holds a law degree from 猫咪社区app University鈥檚 Washington College of Law and a BA in English from UCLA.听

John Johnson III

John Johnson III is a regulatory attorney at Shook, Hardy & Bacon where he counsels and represents clients regarding FDA and other agencies involving the regulation of food, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, and consumer products. As such, he helps clients manage issues such as how a mentholated cough drop is labeled and registered as a drug product, but made according to the food manufacturing regulations. He also helps clients engage with the regulators in a way that appreciates the difference between an inspector鈥檚 observations, a compliance officer鈥檚 decision, and recommendations for headquarters. John seeks to combine his passions for history, law, science, and product together as he works with clients. Lastly, his favorite court case involved the legal question: when is a lot of canned asparagus 鈥渢oo woody鈥� to no longer be considered 鈥渇ood.鈥�

Daniel Kim

Daniel Kim is the Sr. Regulatory Counsel for Surescripts, LLC, one of the U.S. largest health information networks. He is the company鈥檚 primary legal support for regulatory and compliance matters arising out of a myriad of applicable laws (federal and state), including but not limited to ONC鈥檚 21^st Century Cures Act final rule (aka the Information Blocking Rule), Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), e-Prescribing standards and requirements, Intellectual Property, Clinical Decision Support Software, and health care fraud, waste, and abuse (e.g., Anti-Kickback Statute; Civil Monetary Penalties; and False Claims Act). Prior to joining Surescripts, Daniel was an associate attorney for Epstein Becker Green P.C., where he primarily focused on privacy/security, FDA, telehealth, and transactional matters. During law school, is interned at the Departmental Appeals Board (DAB) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of Policy at the Food Drug Administration (FDA), and Doctor on Demand, Inc. Daniel graduated from 猫咪社区app University Washington College of Law in 2017. He is a member of the District of Columbia bar. 听

Wenxi Li

Wenxi Li听is Senior Digital Commercial Counsel at ResMed, Inc., a global medical device manufacturer of sleep apnea and respiratory devices. Her practice focuses on HIPAA, digital health, and telemedicine regulatory and commercial matters. Wenxi holds a J.D. from 猫咪社区app University Washington College of Law (WCL) and a B.A. from Hamilton College. While at WCL, she served as Editor in Chief of the Administrator Law Review听and as President of the Asian Pacific 猫咪社区app Law Students Association (APALSA). She currently serves as Treasurer of the Asian Pacific 猫咪社区app Bar Association of Greater Washington (APABA-DC), and served on the Board of Directors of the Asian Pacific 猫咪社区app Bar Association Educational Fund (AEF) from 2016-2018.

Shruti Modi

Shruti Modi is a regulatory counsel in the Office of New Drug Policy in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She provides regulatory and policy advice on a variety of matters, including priority review vouchers, qualified infectious disease product designation, and formal disputes. Prior to this, she worked as a regulatory counsel and the Associate Ombudsman in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at FDA and in FDA鈥檚 Office of Legislation. Shruti holds a J.D. from 猫咪社区app University Washington College of Law (WCL), an M.P.P. from Pepperdine University, and a B.A. from the University of California at San Diego. During law school, she interned at HHS, DOJ, and FDA, and she also served as a Note and Comment Editor for the 猫咪社区app University Law Review. She graduated from WCL in 2016.

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Phoebe Ramsey

Phoebe Ramsey is Director of Physician Payment & Quality Policy at the Association of 猫咪社区app Medical Colleges (AAMC), where she provides regulatory counsel to member academic health systems on issues relating to health care quality measurement, Medicare value-based care payment design, health equity, and health information technology. She also provides policy insight as a member of the AAMC Center for Health Justice鈥檚 Policy Team. Prior to joining the AAMC she led the implementation of accountable care organization (ACO) payment models at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services鈥� Innovation Center. She earned her J.D. with honors from 猫咪社区app University Washington College of Law (WCL) and her B.A. with honors from Syracuse University鈥檚 Maxwell School for Citizenship and Public Affairs.

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Alexandra Spratt

Alexandra (Alex) Spratt is听Director, Commercial Sector Prices at Arnold Ventures. Her work includes the identification of robust philanthropic opportunities, policy research and analysis, and stakeholder engagement and communications efforts aimed at advancing lower prices across the health care system. Prior to joining Arnold Ventures, Alex was a senior policy analyst at CapView Strategies, a boutique health policy consulting firm in Washington, D.C., where she primarily focused on Medicare and Medicaid payment and delivery reform and alternative payment models, health reform, and drug pricing. During law school, she interned on Capitol Hill, in the Maryland Senate, and at several policy and advocacy organizations focused on health care and women鈥檚 issues.听She graduated from听猫咪社区app University Washington College of Law in 2015 and a bachelor鈥檚 degree in political science from the University of Florida.