معرفی
Rachel Sachs is Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, where she writes and teaches at the intersection of health law, intellectual-property law, and FDA regulation. She additionally serves as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and previously held senior advisory roles in the Biden-Harris Administration at the Department of Health & Human Services.
Education
- J.D., magna cum laude, Harvard Law School, 2013
- M.P.H., Harvard School of Public Health, 2013
- A.B., Bioethics, Princeton University, 2009
Research Focus
Professor Sachs examines how legal and policy structures shape innovation incentives and equitable access to new health technologies. Her work spans prescription-drug pricing, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, patent reform, FDA regulatory design, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence in medicine. She frequently integrates doctrinal legal analysis with empirical policy evaluation to propose reforms that balance innovation with affordability.
Recent Scholarship Trends
Across her 2023-2026 publications, Sachs interrogates systemic levers for controlling drug prices—ranging from Medicare negotiation authority and pharmacy-benefit-manager competition to cryptic patent reforms embedded in the Inflation Reduction Act. A recurring theme is the unanticipated role that agencies, insurers, and state actors play as de facto innovation policymakers, often without explicit statutory mandates.
Policy Engagement & Honors
- Senior Advisor, Office of the General Counsel, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, HHS (Biden-Harris Administration)
- Non-Resident Fellow, Brookings Institution
- Testified before the U.S. House Committees on Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means, and the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Faculty Scholar, Washington University Institute for Public Health
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of Health Policy, Politics & Law and Health Affairs Scholar
Teaching & Courses
At Washington University she teaches Property Law, Health Law, Patent Law, FDA Law, and the Innovation in Pharmaceutical Technologies Seminar, integrating doctrinal study with cutting-edge policy debates.
