Research & Scholarship

The Law-Medicine Center is actively engaged in new research and scholarship. The Center coordinates research funded by foundations, medical and legal organizations, and government agencies. Research topics include ethical, legal, and social implications of the Human Genome Project; protections for human subject research participants; informed consent; disability; organ donation; medical malpractice reform; the role of practice standards and outcome measures in assuring the quality of care; and access to health care. These activities give students the opportunity for significant research experience. Students work with faculty as research assistants (during the summer and school year) and as Law-Medicine Fellows  (during the summer).

To aid student and faculty research, School of Law reference librarians and Information Technology staff have compiled the Bioethics and Biomedical Open Access Resources and Free Full Text Materials database. In addition, the library prepares bibliographies of distinguished guest lecturers hosted by the Law-Medicine Center. These are posted, along with the archived webcast of the event, on the lecture series pages.

University Resources
The Law-Medicine Center works closely with the departments of Bioethics, Human Genetics and other departments within the School of Medicine, with Weatherhead School of Management (Health Systems Management Concentration), with the Mandel School of Applied Social Science, the Center for Policy Studies, and the nursing, dental, and graduate schools (all within walking distance on campus). The Law-Medicine Center cooperates with other schools within the university to organize conferences, workshops, and lectures.

In August 2004, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), chose Case School of Medicine to receive a five-year multi-million dollar grant as one of four national Centers of Excellence in a new initiative to address some of the most pressing ethical, legal and social questions raised by recent advances in genetic and genomic research. Case School of Law professors are playing a significant role in developing, designing and conducting the collaborative research studies. Under the initiative, Law-Medicine Center Director Maxwell Mehlman received a two-year grant to review, and then address, any public policy gaps in guidelines and ethical differences between therapeutic and enhancement genetic research that involves human subjects.

Our Community: Excellence in Law and Medicine
Cleveland is both a major law center and a major center of health care and medical research. Downtown, home to most of the region’s major law firms—including five of the nation’s 100 largest firms—is a 15-minute drive from campus. Many of the medical facilities are even closer. University Hospitals of Cleveland is headquartered on campus. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, MetroHealth Medical Center, and the Cleveland Veterans Administration Medical Center are just minutes away. The proximity of these teaching hospitals is critical to the Law-Medicine Center, as both students and faculty are exposed to the real world of health care. Thus, the health law curriculum includes on-site experience and intensive contact with providers and patients.