This virtual event will discuss a forthcoming international treaty on the rights of older persons and how it could build on lessons from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. On April 3, 2025, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council adopted a resolution jumpstarting the multilateral process for negotiating a new international treaty on the rights…
This hybrid lunchtime event is organized by the Harvard Center for International Development The global health system is broken — and it was never truly built for equity. As power shifts and old institutions lose influence, we’re at a rare crossroads: do we patch up a flawed system, or imagine something better? This panel brings…
Join us for a lunchtime debate hosted by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. This discussion will explore the surge of interest in increasing access to psychedelics. What are the law and policy choices that would maximize benefits and minimize risk of harm? Lunch will be served; event…
Criminal Resentencing Post-Monschke, Mattis, and Other State Case Law In Roper v. Simmons (2005), the U.S. Supreme Court barred the death penalty for crimes committed under 18, grounding its reasoning in developmental science. Yet Jones v. Mississippi (2021) upheld discretionary life without parole, leaving states to decide how science should inform sentencing. In the wake of Jones, courts across the…
Join the Petrie-Flom Center and a panel of experts for an in-person lunchtime discussion of the legal, scientific, medical, and ethical issues related to aging political and judicial leaders. Is the advanced age of many leaders cause for concern? Should we have maximum age limits for lawmakers and judges? What can neuroscience research tell us about…
The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. As part of our retrospective and the Salata Institute’s Climate Week, journey through our past and present climate justice work. Introduction Events The Petrie-Flom Center hosts lunchtime discussions, book talks, conferences, and webinars throughout the year,…
You are cordially invited Join us to celebrate two decades of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics. September 11, 2025 5–8 p.m. Recording OPENING REMARKS I. Glenn Cohen, Faculty Director, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams Professor of Law, and Deputy Dean,…
The Petrie-Flom Center hosted an intensive training on issues in psychedelics-related law, medicine, research, and policy on July 14-15, 2025. With nine sessions, 25 instructors, and 60 participants, the conference emphasized lateral learning, in-depth conversation, and a complex picture of the psychedelic landscape today. Made possible by a generous gift from the Gracias Family Foundation, Psychedelics…
The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School is pleased to announce our 2025 annual conference: “Law, Health Care, and the Aging Brain and Body.” This year’s conference is organized by the Petrie-Flom Center in collaboration with Nina A. Kohn, the David M. Levy Professor of Law at Syracuse…
The range of adverse mental health effects resulting from climate change include triggering or exacerbating anxiety, depression, grief, and suicide. Natural phenomena from heatwaves and droughts to floods and fires that are fueled by climate change cause trauma, distress, and other mental health conditions. So can chronic, slow-onset effects of global warming, such as water and food insecurity, community breakdown, and conflict. Members of marginalized groups, especially Indigenous peoples, feel these effects in unique and especially acute…
