Janet L. Dolgin

Janet L. Dolgin is the Jack and Freda Dicker Distinguished Professor of Health Care Law at Hofstra University, Professor of Science Education at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, Co-director of the Hofstra Bioethics Center, and Director of the Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy. She holds a JD from Yale Law School, a PhD in anthropology from Princeton University, and a BA in philosophy from Barnard College. Her interdisciplinary scholarship bridges legal studies and anthropology, with a focus on health care law, bioethics, and family law.

• JD, Yale University (1981)
• PhD, Anthropology, Princeton University (1974)
• MA, Princeton University (1971)
• BA, Philosophy, Barnard College, Columbia University (1968)

Her research centers on the intersection of law, medicine, and society. She explores how legal institutions respond to transformations in family structure, reproductive technologies, genetics, and health care systems. A recurring theme in her work is the persistent disparities in health and health care access, and she is currently writing a book on the failure of the U.S. to achieve universal health care coverage. Her scholarship combines doctrinal legal analysis with anthropological insights into cultural norms and social practices.

Professor Dolgin is the author of influential works including Defining the Family (NYU Press), which examines legal responses to evolving family forms, and Bioethics and the Law (co-authored with Lois Shepherd, Aspen Publishers), a widely used casebook structured around a lifespan approach to bioethical issues. The second edition of this casebook is forthcoming. Her publications appear in leading law reviews and scholarly journals, addressing topics such as public health, bioterrorism, conflicts of interest in medicine, and the legal implications of the 'new genetics'.

• Fulbright Scholar, Hebrew University, Jerusalem (1988–1989)
• Jack and Freda Dicker Distinguished Professor of Health Care Law

She has held visiting professorships at Cornell Law School, Boston University School of Law, and Cardozo School of Law. Prior to joining Hofstra, she taught anthropology at Columbia University and practiced law at Davis, Polk & Wardwell in Manhattan. As Director of the Gitenstein Institute and Co-director of the Hofstra Bioethics Center, she leads interdisciplinary research initiatives and public engagement in health law and ethics. She lectures widely in the United States and internationally on bioethics, health care law, and family law.

Her work demonstrates a sustained commitment to using interdisciplinary methods to address pressing legal and ethical challenges in health and society.