Benjamin Mason Meier, JD, LLM, PhD
                                                                Please note that this website has moved to http://bmeier.web.unc.edu/

 
 

Courses

Publications

Projects

Affiliations

Presentations

Press

Curriculum Vitae



Benjamin Mason Meier

Assistant Professor of Global Health Policy

Department of Public Policy
University of North Carolina
204 Abernethy Hall
 
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3435
(919) 962-0542
(919) 962-5824 (fax)
bmeier@unc.edu / Twitter @ BenjaminMMeier

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Health Policy & Management, 
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Faculty Fellow, UNC Institute for Global Health and 
Infectious Diseases

Faculty Fellow, UNC Center for AIDS Research

Scholar, Georgetown University O'Neill Institute for National 
and Global Health Law

Courses


Global Health Policy, Spring 2011

Health & Human Rights, Fall 2010

Ethics & Public Policy, Fall 2010





Dr. Meier’s interdisciplinary research—at the intersection of international law, public policy, and global health—examines the harmful effects of globalization on individual health status and national health systems.  Advancing rights-based frameworks for public health, he has written and presented extensively on the development and evolution of human rights in national and global health governance – serving as a consultant to international organizations, national governments, and nongovernmental organizations.
Research Areas

Theoretical Human Rights Analysis

Human Rights Litigation for Health

Global Health Governance

Rights-Based National Health Policy

Public Health Law Reform
Education

BA (Biochemistry), Cornell University

JD, Cornell Law School

LLM (International & Comparative Law), Cornell Law School

PhD (Sociomedical Sciences), Columbia University

 

Publications

 
Benjamin Mason Meier, Lance Gable, Jocelyn E. Getgen & Leslie London, Rights Based Approaches to Public Health Systems, in RIGHTS BASED APPROACHES TO PUBLIC HEALTH (Elvira Beracochea et al. eds, 2010).
Anja Rudiger & Benjamin Mason Meier, A Rights-Based Approach to Health Care Reform, in RIGHTS BASED APPROACHES TO PUBLIC HEALTH (Elvira Beracochea et al. eds, 2010).
Benjamin Mason Meier & Alicia Ely Yamin, Right to Health Litigation and HIV/AIDS Policy, JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS (forthcoming 2010).
Benjamin Mason Meier & Miriam Labbok, From the Bottle to the Grave: Realizing a Human Right to Breastfeeding through Global Health Policy, CASE WESTERN RESERVE LAW REVIEW (forthcoming 2010).
Benjamin Mason Meier & Kristen Brugh, North Carolina and the Evolving Global Health Policy Agenda, NORTH CAROLINA MEDICAL JOURNAL (forthcoming 2010).
Benjamin Mason Meier & Ashley M. Fox, International Obligations through Collective Rights: Moving from Foreign Health Assistance to Global Health Governance, 12 HEALTH & HUMAN RIGHTS 61 (2010).
Benjamin Mason Meier & Lisa Forman, Letters, From Conception to Realization: A Human Right to Health, HASTINGS CENTER REPORTS, at 4 (May-June 2010).
Benjamin Mason Meier, Global Health Governance and the Contentious Politics of Human Rights: Mainstreaming the Right to Health
for Public Health Advancement, 46 STANFORD JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 1 (2010).
Benjamin Mason Meier, The World Health Organization, Human Rights, and the Failure to Achieve Health for All, in GLOBAL HEALTH
AND HUMAN RIGHTS (John Harrington & Maria Stuttaford eds., 2010).

Jocelyn E. Getgen & Benjamin Mason Meier, Correspondence, Ratification of Human Rights Treaties: The Beginning, Not the End,
374 LANCET 447 (2009).
Benjamin Mason Meier, Jacqueline Merrill & Kristine M. Gebbie, Modernizing State Public Health Enabling Statutes to Reflect the Mission and Essential Services of Public Health, 15 Journal of Public Health Management & Practice 284 (2009).
Jacqueline Merrill, Benjamin Mason Meier, Jonathan Keeling, Haomiao Jia, & Kristine M. Gebbie, Examination of the Relationship
Between Public Health Statute Modernization and Local Public Health System Performance, 15 Journal of Public Health Management
& Practice 292 (2009).
Benjamin Mason Meier, James G. Hodge, Jr. & Kristine M. Gebbie, Transitions in State Public Health Law: Comparative Analysis
of State Public Health Law Reform Efforts Following the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act, 99 American Journal of Public Health 423 (2009).
Benjamin Mason Meier & Ashley M. Fox, Climate Justice Through Collective Rights: Employing Human Rights for Environmental
Health, in ADVANCING CLIMATE JUSTICE: TRANSFORMING THE ECONOMY, PUBLIC HEALTH AND OUR ENVIRONMENT (2009).
Ashley M. Fox & Benjamin Mason Meier, Health as Freedom: Addressing Social Determinants of Global Health Inequities through
the Human Right to Development, 23 BIOETHICS 12 (2009).

Reilly Anne Dempsey & Benjamin Mason Meier, Going Negative: How Reproductive Rights Discourse Has Been Altered from a Positive to a Negative Rights Framework in Support of ‘Women's Rights’, in Women’s Global Health and Human Rights (Padmini Murthy
& Clyde Lanford Smith eds. 2009).
Annalijn Conklin & Benjamin Mason Meier, A 'Vector of Rights' Approach to Public Health: Towards an Intersectional Human Rights Framework for Considering the Prevention and Treatment of Harms to Girl Child Soldiers, 13 Australian Journal of Human Rights 65 (2008).
Benjamin Mason Meier & Ashley M. Fox, Development as Health: Employing the Collective Right to Development to Achieve the Goals of the Individual Right to Health, 30 Human Rights Quarterly 259 (2008).
Benjamin Mason Meier, Patricia Stone & Kristine M. Gebbie, Public Health Law for the Collection and Reporting of Healthcare-Associated Infections, 36 American Journal of Infection Control 537 (2008).
Kristine M. Gebbie, Benjamin Mason Meier, Suzanne Bakken, Olveen Carrasquillo, Allan Formicola, Sally W. Aboelela, Sherry Glied
& Elaine Larson, Training for Interdisciplinary Health Research: Defining the Required Competencies, 37 Journal of Allied Health 65 (2008).
Benjamin Mason Meier, James G. Hodge, Jr. & Kristine M. Gebbie, Report from the Field: Alaskan Public Health Law Reform, 33 Journal of Health Politics, Policy & Law 281 (2008).
Kristine M. Gebbie, James G. Hodge, Jr., Benjamin Mason Meier, Drue H. Barrett, Priscilla Keith, Denise Koo, Patricia M. Sweeney,
& Patricia Winget, Improving Competencies for Public Health Legal Preparedness, 36 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 52 (2008).
Benjamin Mason Meier, Advancing Health Rights in a Globalized World: Responding to Globalization Through a Collective Human Right to Public Health, 35 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 545 (2007).
Susan M. Allan, Benjamin Mason Meier, Joan Miles, Gregg Underheim & Anne C. Haddix, Why and How States Are Updating Their Public Health Laws, 35 (supp.) Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 39 (2007).
Benjamin Mason Meier, James G. Hodge, Jr. & Kristine M. Gebbie, Contrasting Experiences of State Public Health Law Reform Pursuant to the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act, 122 Public Health Reports 559 (2007).
Benjamin Mason Meier, Employing Health Rights for Global Justice: The Promise of Public Health in Response to the Insalubrious Ramifications of Globalization, 39 Cornell Int’l L.J. 711 (2006).
Benjamin Mason Meier & Donna Shelley, The Fourth Pillar of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: Harm Reduction and the International Human Right to Health, 121 Public Health Reports 494 (2006).
Benjamin Mason Meier & Larisa M. Mori, The Highest Attainable Standard: Advancing a Collective Human Right to Public Health, 37 Columbia Human Rights L. Rev. 101 (2005).  
Benjamin Mason Meier, Breathing Life into the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: Smoking Cessation and the Right to Health, 5 Yale J. Health Policy, Law & Ethics 137 (2005).
Benjamin Mason Meier, International Criminal Prosecution of Physicians: A Critique of Professors Annas and Grodin’s Proposed International Medical Tribunal, 30 Am. J. Law & Medicine 419 (2004).
Benjamin Mason Meier, International Protection of Persons Undergoing Medical Experimentation:  Protecting the Right of Informed Consent, 20 Berkeley J. Int’l Law 514 (2003).
Benjamin M. Meier, Reunification of Cyprus: The Possibility of a Foreign-Imposed Peace in the Wake of Past Failure, 34 Cornell Int’l Law J. 455 (2001).
Dissertation

The Highest Attainable Standard: WHO, Global Health Governance, and the Contentious Politics of Human Rights, Defense, July 8, 2009.

 The Highest Attainable Standard: WHO and the Contentious Politics of Human Rights, Proposal, March 6, 2008.


Projects

 

Affiliations
Developing a Health and Human Rights Database, O'Neill Institute for
National and Global Health Law, Georgetown Law Center, September
1, 2008 - present.

    Beta Version of Health & Human Rights Database

    Status Update
American Public Health
Association

APHA Governing Council

International Human Rights Committee

Health Law Section—Editor, Health Law News   


National Guidelines for the Conduct of Health Research in Kenya, PATH/Global Campaign for Microbicides, December 1, 2009 - present.
Triangle Global Health Consortium
The Right to Health in South Africa: A Study of the Policy Making Process in Community Participation, University of Cape Town, May 1, 2010 - present.
Public Health Law Association—Board of Directors
Strengthening Structures for HIV Prevention Research in Zambia, PATH/Global Campaign for Microbicides, January 1, 2010 - May 31, 2010.
Parr Center for Ethics—Fellow, Bioethics at UNC

Developing Health Legislation to Authorize the Work of the International Clinical Research Center of Rwanda, Rwanda Ministry of Health, January 1, 2009 - June 30, 2009.
New York Academy of Medicine—Associate Fellow

Building the Base for a Research Agenda on Local Public Health Legal Authority, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, December 1, 2007 - August 30, 2008.

Association of Schools of Public Health— Global Health Core Competency Development Project (Health Equity and Social Justice Leadership)
Analysis of New York Law Against the Model State Public Health Act, New York State Bar Association, Public Health Law Committee, September 15, 2007 - present.

New York State Bar Association—Public Health Law Committee

Collaborations in Public Health Law as it Relates to Oral Health Issues, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 1, 2007 - August 30, 2008.

Human Rights and Tobacco Control Network

Examination of the Relationship between Public Health Enabling Statutes and System Performance, National Network of Public Health Institutes, September 1, 2007 - August 30, 2008.

American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics

Public Health Law and State Reporting of Healthcare-Associated Infections, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Antimicrobial Resistance, June 2007 - August 2007.
Maria's Libraries
Impact of the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act: A Comprehensive Assessment of Changes in State Public Health Laws, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, January 2006 - August 2007.
Global Health Council

 

Presentations

 






























Global Health Governance and the Contentious Politics of Human Rights: Mainstreaming the Right to Health for Public Health Advancement, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, October 29, 2010.
North Carolina Institutions, U.S. Foreign Policy, and Global Health Policy: North Carolina as a Driving Force for the Obama Administration’s Global Health Initiative, North Carolina Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Wilmington, North Carolina, October 27, 2010 (with Kristen Nicole Brugh).
Health, Human Rights, and a Right to Water, Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Global Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, October 6, 2010.
Global HIV/AIDS Laws and Policies: An Imperative for Prevention, Using Law, Policy, and Research to Improve the Public's Health, Atlanta, Georgia, September 14, 2010.
Human Rights for Global Health Governance: The World Health Organization, the Human Right to Health, and the Failure to Achieve Health for All, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, July 29, 2010.
Strengthening Structures for HIV Prevention Research: National Policy Guidelines for Research Oversight and Administration, AIDS 2010, Vienna, Austria, July 19, 2010.
Disciplinary Training for an Interdisciplinary World, Columbia University Convocation, New York, New York, May 15, 2010.
Rights-Based Approaches to Global Health Policy: The World Health Organization and an Evolving Human Right to Health, Unite for Sight Global Health/Innovate, New Haven, Connecticut, April 17, 2010.
An Introduction to Human Rights for Health, Health and International Development, American University, Washington, DC, April 3, 2010.
Judge, UNC Global Health Chellenge, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, March 27, 2010.
Human Rights, Health Capability, and Global Breastfeeding Policy, UNC Bioethics Interest Group, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, March 23, 2010.
Evaluating Policy Performance, Introduction to Public Policy Analysis, UNC Department of Public Policy, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, March 18, 2010.
From the Bottle to the Grave: Realizing a Human Right to Breastfeeding through Global Health Policy, Case Western Reserve University Law Reveiw Symposium, Cleveland, Ohio, January 22, 2010.
Health & Human Rights: Is Access to Medicines All We Got?, UNC Center for AIDS Research 11th Annual HIV/AIDS Symposium, UNC School of Social Work, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, December 1, 2009.
HIV and Human Rights, GlobeMed and Student Global Health Committee World AIDS Day Panel, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, November 30, 2009.


International Legal Practice, Pre-International Law Organization, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, November 12, 2009.
International Obligations through Collective Rights: Moving from Foreign Health Assistance to Global Health Governance, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 9, 2009.
The Human Right to Water, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 9, 2009.
Human Rights for Global Health Governance: The World Health Organization, the Human Right to Health, and the Failure to Achieve Health for All, International Conference on Realising the Rights to Health and Development for All, Ha Noi, Viet Nam, October 28, 2009.
International Human Rights: An Introduction, Intedisciplinary Perspectives in Global Health, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, October 7, 2009.
Delegate, Consortium of Universities for Global Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, September 14-15, 2009.
Global Health Governance & the Right to Health, International Congress on Law and Mental Health, New York University, New York, New York, June 29, 2009.
International Human Rights Law for the Public’s Health, Public Health Law, Columbia University, New York, New York, April 28, 2009.
A Rights-Based Approach to US Health Care Reform: Realizing the Highest Attainable Standard of Health through a Focus on
Underlying Determinants, Unite for Sight Global Health Conference, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, April 18, 2009.
The World Health Organization, the Contentious Politics of Human Rights, and the Failure of Global Health Governance to Achieve
Health for All (Job Talk), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, April 1, 2009.
State Public Health Law Reform: Assessing the Policy Impact of the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act (Job Talk), Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 30, 2009.
Human Rights, Development, and Economic Determinants of Health, Health & Human Rights, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, February 13, 2009.
Human Rights, Harm Reduction, and HIV Prevention Among Intravenous Drug Users, Health Policy in a Global Context, Columbia University, New York, New York, November 11, 2008.

Mainstreaming the Right to Health for Public Health Advancement II: The World Health Organization, Human Rights, and the
Failure to Achieve Health for All, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, October 27, 2008.
Mainstreaming the Right to Health for Public Health Advancement I: The Rise and Fall of World Health Organization’s Support for
Human Rights, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, October 26, 2008.
The Responsibilities of Governments and Health Professionals for Upholding Human Rights, Foundations in Global Public Health,
New York University, New York, NY, October 6, 2008.
Facilitator, Legal and Ethical Challenges to HIV Testing Policy: Current Controversies in Individual Rights and Public Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, September 11, 2008.

A Human Rights-Based Approach to Tobacco Control:  Delineating the Rights-Holder and Duty-Bearer, Tobacco Control and Human Rights Conference, Lausanne, Switzerland, August 1, 2008.

Community Water Fluoridation, Back in the Courts: Applying Public Health Law to Improve Oral Health, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Washington, DC, June 9, 2008 (with Jocelyn Getgen & Kristine M. Gebbie).

Evolution in the Health & Human Rights Movement, Delegate, Global Health Issues and Human Rights Conference, University of Warwick, Coventry, England, June 6, 2008.

Legal Issues in Real Time During Disasters and Public Health Emergencies, New York State Bar Association, “Getting Ready in New York: Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness,” Yonkers, New York, May 15, 2008 (with Jocelyn Getgen).

Applying Public Health Law to Improve Oral Health, National Oral Health Conference, Miami, Florida, April 28, 2008.

The Highest Attainable Standard: The Implications of an Evolving Human Right to Health for Public Health and Global Health Systems, Unite for Sight Conference, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, April 12, 2008.

Inequality and Health, International Development & Globalization Symposium, Columbia University, April 11, 2008.

Comparative Analysis of State Public Health Law Reform Efforts Following the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey, December 10, 2007 (with Kristine M. Gebbie & James G. Hodge, Jr.).

Using International Legal Advocacy to Promote Human Rights, Georgia-American University, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, November 21, 2007.

Human Rights for the Public's Health, New York Medical College - School of Public Health, Westchester, New York, November 17, 2007.

Legal, Ethical and Policy Implications of Bioterrorism, Social and Policy Implications of Bioterrorism and other Weapons of Mass Destruction, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, November 14, 2007.

Easing Resource Constraints for Public Health: Progressive Realization of the Right to Health Through the Right to Development, American Public Health Association 135th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Washington, DC, November 7, 2007 (with Ashley M. Fox).

Evolution of a Human Right to Health: An Incomplete Success, American Public Health Association 135th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Washington, DC, November 6, 2007.
Competencies for Interdisciplinary Public Health Research, American Public Health Association 135th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Washington, DC, November 5, 2007 (et al.).

Public Health Law and State Reporting of Healthcare-Associated Infections, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Antimicrobial Resistance, Columbia University, October 4, 2007 (with Kristine M. Gebbie).

Deus ex Medicus? Harmonizing Individual and Collective Health Rights for Mental Health Promotion, International Congress on Law and Mental Health, Padua, Italy, June 29, 2007.

Moderator and Facilitator, Competencies, The Public’s Health and the Law in the 21st Century: A Summit on Legal Preparedness, Atlanta, Georgia, June 19, 2007.

The Evolution of Health Rights in a Globalised World: Responding to Globalisation through a Collective Human Right to Public Health,
Public Health & Human Rights Conference, Prato, Italy, June 9, 2007.

State Public Health Law Modernization: Assessing the Impact of the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Orlando, Florida, June 3, 2007.

The Girl as Soldier and Slave: Bridging Public Health and Human Rights in Violence Prevention, Canadian Law & Society Association Conference, Saskatoon, Canada, June 2, 2007 (presented by Annalijn Conklin).

Public Health Law - Statutes Modernization Project Update, Wisconsin Public Health Law Association Annual Meeting, Appleton, Wisconsin, May 24, 2007.

Physician Responsibility for Human Rights, Public Health/Preventive Medicine Residency Program, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, May 18, 2007.

Forum: Legal & Ethical Considerations for the Protection of Prisoners Involved in Research, Columbia University, New York, New York, April 23, 2007.

Human Rights in Global Tobacco Control: A Rights-Based Approach to the FCTC and Its Protocols, Tobacco and Human Rights Roundtable, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 27, 2007.

Maximizing the Available Resources:  The Intersections of the Individual Human Right to Health and Collective Right to Development, Unite for Sight Conference, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, April 14, 2007 (with Ashley M. Fox).

Civil Liberties Implications of Bioterrorism Response and the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act, Social and Policy Implications of Bioterrorism and other Weapons of Mass Destruction, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, November 15, 2006.

The Promise of Human Rights for Public Health, Introduction to Global Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, November 9, 2006.

Modernizing Public Health Laws in the 21st Century: The Impact of the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act on State Legislative Reforms, American Public Health Association 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Boston, Massachusetts, November 7, 2006 (with James G. Hodge, Jr.).

Transcending Available Resources: Improving Public Health Through the Right to Development, American Public Health Association 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Boston, Massachusetts, November 7, 2006 (with Ashley M. Fox).

Beyond “the highest attainable standard”: Analyzing an Evolving Right to Health as a Means of Protecting Public Health, American Public Health Association 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Boston, Massachusetts, November 6, 2006.

Applying the Human Right to Health to Tobacco Control: Tobacco Cessation, Harm Reduction, and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, American Public Health Association 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Boston, Massachusetts, November 6, 2006 (with Donna Shelley).

Advancing Health Rights in Globalized World, IGERT Third Annual Symposium on Development and Globalization, Columbia University, November 3, 2006.

A Method for Assessing Changes in State Public Health Laws: What has been the impact of the Model State Public Health Act?, AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, Seattle, Washington, June 26-27, 2006.

Alaska Public Health Law Reform Pursuant to the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act: Transforming National Collaboration into State Legislation, The Public’s Health and the Law in the 21st Century, Centers for Disease Control, June 12, 2006.

Employing Health Rights for Global Justice: The Promise of Public Health in Response to the Insalubrious Ramifications of Globalization, Cornell International Law Journal Symposium, Global Justice: Poverty, Human Rights, and Responsibilities, Cornell
Law School, April 10, 2006.

The Highest Attainable Standard: Advancing a Collective Human Right to Public Health, American Public Health Law Conference, Centers for Disease Control, June 12, 2005 (with Larisa Mori).

The Civil Liberties Implications of Bioterrorism, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, December 1, 2004.

Global Tobacco Control: The Role of International Law, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, April 26, 2004.
 
Press
Mike May, The Challenge of Changing Health: A New Landscape Fraught with Obstacles, Risks and Opportunities, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN PATHWAYS, September 2010.
The Big Question: What is the Most Pressing Health Crisis and How can it be Solved?, WORLD POLICY FORUM, Summer 2010.
The Obama Administration’s Global Health Initiative: Public Health Law, U.S. Foreign Policy & Universal Human Rights, American Public Health Association, HEALTH LAW NEWS, Spring 2010.
Human Rights for Global Health, Ethics Matters, WCOM 103.5 FM, December 26, 2009.
Lisa Chensvold, Global Health Policy Expert Benjamin Mason Meier, JD, LLM, PhD, Joins UNC faculty, UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Disease, September 15, 2009.
Ryan Blitstein, A Pox on Outdated Public Health Laws, MILLER-MCCUNE, March 30, 2009.
Lance Gable & Benjamin Mason Meier, Public Health Powers Serve as Protection, Not Enforcement, American Public Health Association, Get Ready Blog, February 29, 2008.

For additional publications, presentations, and professional experiences, see curriculum vitae.

 

Benjamin Meier Ben Meier Meier BM