Trudo Lemmens

Trudo Lemmens is Professor and Scholl Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He holds cross-appointments at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and the Joint Centre for Bioethics, reflecting his interdisciplinary expertise in health law, ethics, and policy. He has also held visiting positions at KU Leuven, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, University of Otago, and Oxford, and was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

His research focuses on the legal, ethical, and governance challenges in healthcare and biomedical research. Key areas include medical assistance in dying, clinical trial transparency, pharmaceutical regulation, genetic data privacy, and conflict of interest. He has extensively analyzed how legal frameworks interact with ethical norms in contexts such as assisted human reproduction, end-of-life decisions, and public health emergencies. His work emphasizes human rights, equity, and the protection of vulnerable populations.

His recent publications reveal a strong focus on the ethical and legal dimensions of medical assistance in dying, particularly regarding mental illness and advance requests. He has also published on vaccine mandates, pandemic triage ethics, and transparency in pharmaceutical data. His scholarship combines doctrinal legal analysis with empirical and policy insights, often addressing urgent public health debates.

• Fellowship, Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts (2006-2007)
• Membership, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (2003-2004)
• Law Commission of Canada, Legal Dimensions Initiative Award (with Duff R. Waring) (2003)
• Graduate Student Paper Award, Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (1996)
• Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (1995-1997)
• Doctoral Fellowship, Fonds pour la formation de chercheurs et l'aide à la recherche du Québec (deferred) (1995-1998)
• Student Paper Award, Society for Health and Human Values (1995)
• Chief Justice R.A.E. Greenshields Memorial Scholarship for Graduate Studies in Law (1994)

Trudo Lemmens has advised numerous national and international organizations, including the Pan American Health Organization (as a member of its Advisory Committee on Health Research), the World Health Organization, and the Council of Canadian Academies. He has served on expert panels examining access to health data and medical assistance in dying. His policy submissions to Canadian parliamentary committees have shaped national debates on end-of-life legislation. He has also contributed to inquiries into research ethics and institutional governance, including an independent inquiry into the University of Ottawa and its affiliated hospitals.

He is actively engaged in public discourse, publishing op-eds in major media outlets and maintaining a presence on social media. His work bridges academia, policy, and public engagement, advocating for transparency, accountability, and ethical integrity in health systems and research.