Jocelyn Downie B.A., M.A., M.Litt.,L.L.B, L.L.M., S.J.D. holds a Canadian Research Chair in Health Law and Policy. She is also a Professor in the Faculties of Law and Medicine.

Professor Downie received an honours BA and MA in Philosophy from Queen’s University, an MLitt in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, an LLB from the University of Toronto, and an LLM and doctorate in law from the University of Michigan. After graduation from law school, she clerked for Chief Justice Lamer at the Supreme Court of Canada. 

Professor Downie has published numerous books and articles including Dying Justice, winner of the 2005 Abbyann Lynch Medal in Bioethics from the Royal Society of Canada. She has spoken at conferences on a variety of health law and policy topics across Canada and around the world. Her most recent writing projects include papers on barriers to access to abortion in Canada, various aspects of the law as it relates to organ and tissue donation and transplantation, assisted death at the Supreme Court of Canada, and barriers to mandatory legal ethics education in Canadian law schools as well as Health Law at the Supreme Court of Canada and the third edition of Canadian Health Law and Policy.

Professor Downie has been the principal investigator on numerous research projects and is currently responsible for a $1.8 million training program in health law and policy funded by CIHR, a $1.5 million CIHR grant in neuroethics.

She has served on many committees and boards. Professor Downie was a member of the National Blood Safety Council, the Board of the Maritime Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Advisory Committee on Population Health, and the Experts Committee for Human Research Participant Protection in Canada.

Through all of her work she  tries to contribute to the academic literature and promote progressive change in health law, policy, and practice.

 CV