Director, Program in Law and Public Health; Co-Chair, Human Subjects Committee, Harvard School of Public Health

Dr. Mello conducts empirical research into issues at the intersection of law, ethics, and health policy.  She is the author of more than 70 articles and book chapters on the medical malpractice system, medical errors and patient safety, research ethics, mass tort litigation, the obesity epidemic, pharmaceuticals, clinical ethics, and other topics.  Current and recent projects include an investigation of the impact of the medical malpractice crisis on physician supply in Pennsylvania; a study of factors contributing to medical errors in the hospital; a study of legal relationships between academic investigators and industry sponsors of clinical trials; and a feasibility study of an administrative "no-fault" system of compensating medical injuries.  Dr. Mello is also studying ethical issues confronting the pharmaceutical industry as a Greenwall Faculty Scholar.  In 2006, she was the recipient of the Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award from AcademyHealth for outstanding promise in the field of health services research.

Design of a Reliable System of Medical Justice Project

The goal of this study is to provide research to support demonstration projects of an administrative compensation system for medical injury, called "health courts". The project is investigating issues such as compensation criteria, costs, appropriate damages, constitutionality, and relationship of the system to patient safety.  More

State Policy Approaches to Foster Uptake of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine

The major goal of this project is to study the legal and policy approaches that states are taking to fostering uptake of the HPV vaccine. The project will identify policy "best practices" and analyze HPV vaccination as a case example of the use of laws and policies to promote public health.  More

Ethical Issues in the Pharmaceutical Industry

This project is examining a series of legal and ethical challenges confronting the pharmaceutical industry, including issues of drug safety, disclosure of clinical trial data,  and relationships with academic researchers.  More

Board of Directors, AcademyHealth

Advisory Board on Publication Ethics, PLoS Medicine

Links with Academia Advisory Committee, American Health Lawyers Association

Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award, AcademyHealth

Greenwall Faculty Scholar

Citations for Excellence in Teaching, Harvard School of Public Health

Public Health Law

Ethical Basis of the Practice of Public Health

Law and Public Health (Harvard Law School)

J.D., 2000, Yale Law School
Ph.D., 1999, Health Policy and Administration, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.Phil., 1995, Comparative Social Research, Oxford University
B.A., 1993, Political Science and Applied Ethics, Stanford University

Mello MM, Clarridge BR, Studdert DM.  Academic medical centers' standards for clinical-trial agreements with industry. N Engl J Med 2005;352:2202-2210.  Read it

Mello MM, Brennan TA. Deterrence of medical errors: theory and evidence for malpractice reform. Texas Law Rev 2002;80:1595-1637.

Studdert DM, Mello MM, Gawande AA, Gandhi TK, Kachalia A, Yoon C, Puopolo AL, Brennan TA. Claims, errors, and compensation payments in medical malpractice litigation. N Engl J Med 2006;354:2024-2033.  Read it

Mello MM, Studdert DM, Brennan TA.  Obesity--the new frontier of public health law.  N Engl J Med 2006;354(24):2601-2610. Read it

Mello MM, Studdert DM. Deconstructing negligence: the role of individual and system factors in causing medical injuries. Georgetown Law J 2008;96:599-623.  Read it