WASHINGTON (Aug. 29, 2024) — The Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University has named Alison Barkoff as its Harold and Jane Hirsh Associate Professor of Health Law and Policy. She will also serve as Director of the Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program, starting on October 28, 2024.
Barkoff comes to the Milken Institute School of Public Health from her role leading the Administration for Community Living, an agency in the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services. In that role, she serves as the advisor to the HHS Secretary on aging and disability policy, oversees national disability and aging programs, and leads cross-agency initiatives related to long-term services and supports, civil rights, housing, workforce and disaster preparedness and response.
“We could not be more thrilled to welcome Alison Barkoff into this role,” said Lynn R. Goldman, Michael and Lori Milken Dean of Public Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. “With her decades of leadership in the federal government and non-profit sector advancing health law and policy, she brings unmatched experience, knowledge and passion to our program and is the perfect person to continue the Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program’s national impact.”
For more than 25 years, Barkoff has helped shape the national health landscape, focused on improving the lives of people who face the most significant challenges in accessing health care and other critical services. She is a nationally recognized disability rights lawyer who has led precedent-setting legal advocacy in leadership roles at the Department of Justice, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and Center for Public Representation. She has impacted national health policy, leading advocacy efforts in her non-profit roles related to health care, long-term services and supports, behavioral health and Medicaid and developing federal regulations related to Medicaid and health care discrimination while with the Department of Health and Human Services. Barkoff has testified as an expert before Congress and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
The Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program of the Milken Institute School of Public Health offers unique educational opportunities to law students, practicing lawyers, and students in the health profession. Endowed by Harold and Jane Hirsh and home to GW’s joint degree programs in law and public health, the program is designed to foster an interdisciplinary approach to the study of health policy, health law, public health and health care. Under the leadership of Professor Emerita Sara Rosenbaum, whom Barkoff is succeeding, the Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program has become an invaluable resource to Congress, federal agencies, courts, academics, and advocacy organizations across the country.
“I look forward to continuing to impact national health law and policy through my new role at GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health,” Barkoff said. “The Milken Institute School of Public Health plays a unique role in serving as a thought leader on the most important health issues today, and I am excited to contribute through research and advocacy to address health disparities, increase access to health care and long-term services and supports and shape courts’ interpretation of health laws. I am thrilled to advance this important work while also serving as a mentor to the passionate students at GW who will become the next generation of health leaders.”
Barkoff is a graduate of Cornell University and Emory University School of Law.
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