Student Honors, Achievements & Career Goals
Students in the Joint Degree Program continue to excel. They are passionate about their studies and we look forward to watching their innovative and ambitious goals take shape. Below is a partial list of their accomplishments:
Collette Adkins Giese, JD, PhD in Conservation Biology, was the winner of the 2005-06 legal writing contest sponsored by the Journal of Animal Law and Ethics. Her essay on "Inadequate USDA Regulations Thwart the Congressional Mandate to Protect Primate Psychological Well-Being" was published in 2006 in the inaugural issue of that journal. She began as an associate at Faegre & Benson LLP in Fall 2007.
Ilina Chaudhuri, JD, MPH in Public Health Administration, spent Summer 2007 in Washington, D.C. at the National Business Group on Health and the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown, where she co-authored an "Assessment of Laws and Policies Related to HIV/AIDS in Trinidad" with Dean Lawrence Gostin. She plans to pursue a career in health policy focusing on issues such as un-insurance and comparative health systems and is particularly interested in working towards greater U.S. insurance coverage.
Michelle Dawson, JD, MS in Health Services Research, Policy & Administration, and her competition partner won both the Regional and National Giles S. Rich Intellectual Property Moot Court Competition, arguing in front of two Federal Circuit Judges in the final round of the National Competition in Spring 2007. She also won Best Advocate of the Regional Competition. Ms. Dawson published a Recent Development titled "Metabolite Labs and Patentable Subject Matter: A Review of Federal Circuit and PTO Precedent was Narrowly Averted, but for How Long?" published in the Minnesota Journal of Law Science and Technology, Winter 2007. She has accepted a permanent position at the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney where she was a summer associate in 2007. She hopes to do patent prosecution and IP litigation.
Sharada Devarasetty, JD, MS in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics, was president of the University's Student Intellectual Property Law Association and a Director for the Intellectual Property Moot Court. She completed her Master's degree in May 2007. During Summer 2007, she worked as a Summer Associate in the Intellectual Property Department at Goodwin Procter, LLP in Boston, MA. For the Fall 2007 semester, she is participating in an exchange program with Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany, taking classes in corporate law.
Lilly Ewing, JD, MS in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics, published an article for the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology in Spring 2007 entitled "In Re Fisher: Denial of Patents for ESTs Signals Deeper Problems in the Utility Prong for Patentability." During Summer 2007 she was an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Silicon Valley. Ms. Ewing will serve as a 2007-08 articles editor of the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology.
Andrew Gibbons, JD, MS in Science, Technology & Environmental Policy, served as a staff member on the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology during the 2006-2007 academic year and was a co-chair of the Environmental Law Society, a student group at the Law School. Mr. Gibbons' primary interests are in the areas of alternative energy and climate change policy.
Jonathan Hareid, JD, PhD in Pharmacology, served on the staff of the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology as an Articles Editor in 2006-07. His article on "Testing Drugs and Testing Limits: Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd. and the Scope of the Hatch-Waxman Safe Harbor Provision" was published in Volume 7 of MJLST. In Summer 2007 he worked as a Minnesota Justice Foundation volunteer for the ElderCare Rights Alliance, doing legal research on state-by-state regulation of assisted living facilities. He hopes to pursue a career in patent law or food and drug law.
Rachel Herder, JD, PhD in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics, conducts research focused on developmental timing as it relates to steroid hormone synthesis in the fruit fly and she is a contributing author in a paper published July 2007 in the Journal of Neuroscience, entitled "Presynaptic Contributions of Chordin to Hippocampal Plasticity and Spatial Learning." In January of 2007, she participated in the Asylum Law Program through UMN where she traveled to Miami to help those seeking asylum in the United States. Ms. Herder served as an officer in Students in Intellectual Property Association at the University of Minnesota Law School
Lindsey Hopper, JD, MPH in Community Health Education, clerked for Justice James C. Nelson who sits on the Montana Supreme Court in Summer 2007. She will return to clerk for him in Summer 2008 as well. Ms. Hopper helped the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services draft a benchbook on public health emergency preparedness and the judiciary. She will serve as a 2007-08 staff member for the Minnesota Law Review.
Stephanie Johnson, JD, MS in Water Resources Science, has worked as a Research Assistant in the Law Library, assisting Prof. Suzanne Thorpe with faculty research requests since 2006. In Summer 2007, Ms. Johnson was a summer associate in the Environmental and Natural Resources group of Fennemore Craig in Phoenix, Arizona. In Fall 2007, she will be interning at the Centre for Environmental Economics at Central Queensland University in Australia. Ms. Johnson plans to pursue a career in natural resource and environmental law and policy.
Laurel Kilgour, JD, MS in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics, will publish an article titled "Building Intellectual Property Management Capacity in Public Research Institutions in Vietnam: Current Needs and Future Directions" in the Winter 2008 issue of the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology.
Katherine Dick Krueger, JD, PhD in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics, co-authored an article titled "Spectrin Mutations Cause Ppinocerebellar Ataxia Type 5" that was published in Nature Genetics in 2006. Ms. Krueger has also been awarded a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for Fall 2007 from the Graduate School.
Crystal Liu, JD, MPH in Public Health Administration, was on the 2006-07 Deans List with "A" average. She also received a Book Award for Civil Procedure in Spring 2007 and Criminal Law in Spring 2007. Her research focuses on preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the relevant ethical, legal, and social implications that arise with the use of such reproductive technologies.
Alissa Lyon, JD, MPH in Public Health Administration, spent Summer 2007 working in the Office of Ethics and Compliance at Medtronic. She will serve as a staff member in 2007-08 for the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology. She plans to practice FDA and Health law.
Anne McNamara, JD, MPH in Community Health Education, spent Summer 2007 working for a legal think tank called Common Good that focuses on healthcare and education reform. She researched alternatives to medical malpractice litigation, such as healthcare courts and binding arbitration clauses.
Geeta Naidu, JD, MPH in Public Health Administration, was a Minnesota AIDS Project policy intern in Spring 2007 and she completed an internship with Prairie State Legal Services in Waukegan, Illinois in Summer 2007. Ms. Naidu plans to pursue a career in health law and public interest law, working to improve the health status of minority and impoverished peoples.
Garrett Olson, JD, MS in Computer Science/Bioinformatics, served on the staff of the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology for 2006-07, and will serve as an articles editor for 2007-08. He plans to pursue a career in intellectual property law.
Britta Orr, JD, MPH in Public Health Administration, worked with an economic development firm that focuses on biotechnology and the life sciences during Summer 2007. She researched state investment in the biosciences and the trajectory of the medical device market.
Sarah Johnson Phillips, JD, MS in Science, Technology & Environmental Policy, spent summer 2007 as a law clerk at Farmer's Legal Action Group where she worked on a legal wind energy guide for farmers and researched agricultural law issues. In 2007-08, she will serve as a staff member for the Minnesota Journal of International Law.
Susan Pribyl, JD, MS in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics, will serve as a 2007-08 staff member for the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology. She plans a career focusing on intellectual property law.
Marie Quasius, JD, MPH in Environmental Health, spent Summer 2007 as an associate at Halleland Lewis Nilan and Johnson. In 2007-08 she will serve as a staff member for the Minnesota Law Review.
Lisbeth Robinson, JD, PhD in Pharmacology, published an article titled, "Calcium Influx: Beyond 'Current' Biology" in Current Biology. After graduation in 2008, Ms. Robinson will join Fish & Richardson, P.C. as a biotech patent prosecution associate.
Kathleen (K.J.) Starr, JD, MPH in Community Health Education, spent 6 months in Mexico City during 2007, where she attended law school and studied federal anti-poverty program. She has also been awarded a Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship for 2007-08 to study Hindi. She is hoping to combine her experience in India and Mexico to study people-centered development and anti-poverty programs which incorporate behavior change to improve public health.
Lindsey Yock, JD, MD, has a forthcoming article "Communicable Dis-Ease: Breach of Privacy in a World of Electronic Health Records and a New Theory for Recovery" to be published in the Minnesota Law Review. Ms. Yock will also serve as a Note & Comment editor for the Minnesota Law Review in 2007-08. She is interested in using her training to work at the intersection of law, medicine, and public policy.
Robert Berlin, JD/MPH in Epidemiology, won 1st place in the American Bar Association's 2006 TIPS Law Student Writing Contest. The Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) established the Law Student Writing Competition in 2002 to attract law students to the civil trial, tort and insurance fields, and to encourage and reward scholarship in these areas. Mr. Berlin's winning paper is titled "Epidemiology as More Than Statistics: A Revised Tool for Products Liability" and will be considered for publication in the Tort Trial & Insurance Law Journal. In addition, he will receive $1,500 and round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations to attend the ABA Annual Meeting in Waikiki, Hawaii. Mr. Berlin also held a 2006 summer associate position at Hogan & Hartson in Washington, DC and served on the staff of the Minnesota Law Review in 2005-06. He is a Managing Editor of the journal in 2006-07.
Kari Bomash, JD/MPH in Public Health Administration worked as legal intern in Summer 2006 for the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC. She served on the staff of the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology in 2005-06 and will be an Articles Editor for the journal in 2006 -07.
Sharada Devarasetty, JD/MS in MCDB&G, was Secretary of the Student Intellectual Property Law Association (SIPLA) in 2005-06 and was elected President of SIPLA for 2006-07. In summer 2006 she was a Summer Associate at Proskauer Rose LLP in New York where she worked on patent litigation and environmental recovery cases.
Katie Dick, JD/PhD in MCDB&G, was part of the research team that discovered the gene responsible for spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 (SCA5), an incurable degenerative disease that affects the brain. This is the first neurodegenerative disease shown to be caused by mutations in β-III spectrin, a protein that plays an important role in maintaining the health of nerve cells. The finding has historical implications- the gene was identified in a multi-generation family descended from the grandparents of President Abraham Lincoln, with the president having had a 25 percent risk of inheriting the mutation. The research was published in Nature Genetics. Ikeda I, Dick KA, Weatherspoon, MR, Gincel D, Armbrust KR, Dalton JC, Stevanin G, Durr A, Zuhlke C, Burk K, Clark HB, Brice A, Rothsein JD, Schut LJ, Day JW, Ranum LPW. Spectrin mutations cause spinocerebellar ataxia type 5. Nature Genetics. 2006;38: 84-90.
Jon Hareid, JD/PhD in Pharmacology, published an article on "Testing Drugs and Testing Limits: Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd. and the Scope of the Hatch-Waxman Safe Harbor Provision" in Volume 7 of the Minnesota Journal of Law Science & Technology (MJLST). He served on the staff of MJLST in 2005-06 and will be one of the journal's Articles Editors in 2006-07.
Laurel Kilgour, JD/MS in MCDB&G, was awarded a Joint Degree Program student research award as well as a Consortium grant for her project on "Public Sector Agricultural Research in Vietnam: A Model for Building Public Intellectual Property Management Capacity in Developing Countries." The grants funded a portion of her Summer 2006 internship with the Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture (PIPRA). Her work will assess the intellectual property management capacity of public agricultural research institutions in Vietnam.
Marie Quasius, JD/MPH in Environmental Health, was awarded a Joint Degree Program student research award for her project on "Water Quality Rights of the Mapuche in Southern Chile." She spent Summer 2006 in the cities of Valdivia and Concepcion studying the complex issues concerning indigenous Chilean populations and environmental policy.
K.J. Starr, JD/MPH in Community Health Education, was one of three Law students awarded a fellowship from the Albert and Anne Mansfield Foundation for Summer 2006. The fellowship funded an internship at the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, where K.J. worked in the government benefits division. Mansfield Fellowships are highly competitive and were established to encourage qualified law students to consider careers in legal services.
Collette Adkins Giese, JD/PhD in Conservation Biology, held an Environmental Law Fellowship at the law firm of Faegre & Benson in Summer 2005. She completed all of her JD requirements in May 2005 and will clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Jack Tunheim beginning in October 2005 while she completes her dissertation.
Robert Berlin, JD/MPH in Epidemiology, held a 2005 summer fellowship at the Science, Technology and Law Program which is part of the Global Affairs Division of the National Academy of Sciences. He researched and wrote on quarantine law, national security and science, and other topics. He will serve on the staff of the Minnesota Law Review in 2005-06.
Samantha Bohrman, JD/MS in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy, held a Minnesota Justice Foundation clerkship in Summer 2005. She worked for the Farmer's Legal Action Group, writing educational materials for small farmers and working on legal strategy for cases overlapping environmental, administrative, and constitutional law. In 2004-05, she served on the staff of Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory & Practice and will return as an Articles Editor for the journal in 2005-06.
Kelsey Brodsho, JD/MS in Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration worked at the law firm of Halleland Lewis Nilan & Johnson in 2004-05 and served on the staff for the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology (MJLST). She remained at Halleland in Summer 2005 and will serve as an Articles Editor for MJLST in 2005-06.
Sharada Devarasetty, JD/MS in MCDB&G, studied international intellectual property law in Munich, Germany in Summer 2005.
Erin Furlong, JD/MPH in Public Health Administration, held a 2005 summer internship at the American Bar Association's Commission on Law and Aging in Washington, DC. Her work at the Commission examined trends in state health decisions legislation resulting from the Schiavo case.
Ji Eun Kim, JD/MS in Pharmacology, held a Summer 2005 position at the law firm of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox in Washington, DC.
Lesli Rawles, JD/MS in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy, held a 2005 summer clerkship at the University of Minnesota's Office of the General Counsel. She will serve on the staff of the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology in 2005-06.
Lisbeth Robinson, JD/PhD in Pharmacology, published an article on "Improved 'optical highlighter' probes derived from Discosoma red fluorescent protein" in volume 88 of the Biophysical Journal. Prof. Jonathan Marchant is the co-author. An abstract and link to the full text article may be found at www.biophysj.org/cgi/content/abstract/biophysj.104.045617v1.
Collette Adkins Giese, JD/PhD in Conservation Biology, passed all preliminary exams for her doctoral program and served as a staff member for Law & Inequality: A Journal of Theory & Practice in 2003-04. She held an Environmental Law Fellowship at the law firm of Faegre & Benson in Summer 2004. She expects to graduate in May 2005.
Erin Furlong, JD/MPH in Public Health Administration, held an Executive Pathways Internship at the Minnesota Department of Human Services in Spring 2004, working in the Continuing Care for the Elderly and Aging Divisions. She earned honors for her participation on the University of Minnesota Law School's 2003-04 Maynard Pirsig Moot Court. In Summer 2004, she continued working at the Department of Human Services, serving as a Management Analyst working on long-term care financing reform.
Glenna Gilbert, JD/MS in Pharmacology, was a Managing Editor for the Minnesota Intellectual Property Review in 2003-04. Her article on "Bayer AG v. Schein Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: A Pharmaceutical Company's Victory in Securing a Patent Monopoly over Ciprofloxacin" was published in the Fall 2003 (volume 5, number 1) issue of the Minnesota Intellectual Property Review. She was a 2004 Summer Associate at the law firm of Schiff Hardin in Chicago and expects to graduate in May 2005.
Margaret Jacot, JD/MS in Science, Technology & Environmental Policy, held a summer internship at the University of Minnesota's Office of the General Counsel.
Rebekah Kent, JD/MS in Health Services Research, Policy & Administration, held an internship at the Minneapolis law firm of Halleland Lewis Nilan Sipkins & Johnson in 2003-04. In Summer 2004 she continued to work at Halleland as a Consultant. Her article on "Comparison of ANA and AMA Professional Values and PAC Donations," co-authored with Prof. Joan Liaschenko of the Center for Bioethics, was accepted by the Journal of Policy, Politics, and Nursing Practice, and will be published in Fall 2004.
Melanie Kleiss, JD/MS in Science, Technology & Environmental Policy, was a Note & Comment Editor for the Minnesota Law Review in 2003-04. In Spring 2004, she interned with Earthjustice in Seattle and will clerk for U.S. District Court Judge David S. Doty beginning in September 2004.
Lesli Rawles, JD/MS in Science, Technology & Environmental Policy, was a 2004 Summer Intern for the State of Minnesota's Bioscience Initiative and Department of Employment and Economic Development. Her work focused on bioscience industry in Minnesota. She also was Research Assistant to the Consortium and Joint Degree Program, researching events topics and speakers.
Lisbeth Robinson, JD/PhD in Pharmacology, won the 2004 Best Brief award in the University of Minnesota Law School's Maynard Pirsig Moot Court. Three judges ranked the briefs, unanimously selecting Ms. Robinson as the winner.
Samantha Tschida, JD/MS in Science, Technology & Environmental Policy, worked as Summer Associate for the law firm of Peters & Peters in Alexandria, MN. The firm specializes in environmental law.
Collette Adkins Giese, JD/PhD in Conservation Biology, will be a staff member for Law & Inequality: A Journal of Theory & Practice in 2003-04. In Summer 2003 she interned at Earthjustice in Denver, CO and presented her paper on "Resolving Conflicts between Cormorants and Fisheries: Is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sidestepping Federal Protections for Migratory Birds?" at the 17th Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology held in Duluth, MN. In Summer 2002, she served as a legal intern at Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, DC.
Trevor Copeland, JD/MS in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics, was a 2002-03 Note & Comment Editor for the Minnesota Intellectual Property Review.
Glenna Gilbert, JD/MS in Pharmacology, was a staff member for the Minnesota Intellectual Property Review in 2002-03. In 2003-04, she will serve as a managing editor for the journal. In Summer 2003, she worked as a patent proofreader at the Minneapolis office of Merchant & Gould.
Melanie Kleiss, JD/MS in Science, Technology & Environmental Policy, was a staff member for the Minnesota Law Review in 2002-03 and an intern with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy in St. Paul. She was one of 3 Law students chosen to participate in the "Impress the President" event held on campus on February 26, 2003. The Minnesota Law Review published Melanie's Note on "NEPA and Scientific Uncertainty: Using the Precautionary Principle to Bridge the Gap" in its April 2003 issue (Volume 87, Number 4). In April-August 2003, she studied international environmental law at Humboldt University in Berlin on a Judd Fellowship.
Rebekah Orr, JD/MS in Health Services Research, Policy & Administration, co-authored a paper with Prof. Steven Miles (Center for Bioethics) on "Federal Campaign Donation Strategies of Health Professionals' Political Action Committees." She presented the paper at the American Public Health Association's annual conference in Philadelphia, November 9-13, 2002. During Summer 2003, she participated in Michigan State University's Program on Medical Ethics and the History of Health Care in London.
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