Deborah Hellman is the Jacob France Research Professor of Law.  She teaches Constitutional Law, Legal Profession, Contracts, Bioethics and Jurisprudence.  Professor Hellman’s main scholarly interest is discrimination.  In addition, she writes in the area of bioethics (focusing on issues related to clinical medical research), obligations of professional role and most recently on campaign finance. 

Her publications include, among others,  When Is Discrimination Wrong? (Harvard Univ. Press, 2008); “Willfully Blind for Good Reason,” Criminal Law and Philosophy (forthcoming); “Prosecuting Doctors For Trusting Patients,” 16 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 701 (2009); “What Makes Genetic Discrimination Exceptional?”, 29 Am Journal of Law & Med 77(2003); “Evidence, Belief and Action: The Failure of Equipoise to Resolve the Ethical Tension in the Randomized Clinical Trial,” 30 Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 375 (2002); “Judging By Appearances: Professional Ethics, Expressive Government and the Moral Significance of How Things Seem,” 60 Md. L. Rev. 653 (2001); “The Expressive Dimension of Equal Protection,” 85 Minn. L. Rev. 1 (2000);“Two Types of Discrimination: The Familiar and the Forgotten,” 86 Cal. L. Rev.315 (1998); “Is Actuarially Fair Insurance Pricing Actually Fair?: A Case Study in Insuring Battered Women,” 32 Harv. C.R.-C.L.  L. Rev. 355 (1997); “The Importance of Appearing Principled,” 37 Ariz. L. Rev. 1107 (1995); and “Of Mice But Not Men: Problems of the Randomized Clinical Trial”, 324 New England Journal of Medicine (1991), with Samuel Hellman, an article which has been reprinted in numerous bioethics anthologies.

She has been awarded several fellowships. In 2005-06, she was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In 2004-05, she was the Eugene P. Beard Faculty Fellow in Ethics at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. In 1999, she was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers. In addition, in 2007-08, she was a Visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Professor Hellman is currently a member of the Maryland Insurance Administration Workgroup on Genetic Testing and previously served a four-year term (1998-2003) as a member of the National Institutes of Health Review Panel for the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of the Human Genome Project.

In 2008-09, she presented her work at faculty workshops at the University of Southern California Law School, Syracuse University Law School and the University of Toronto Law School.  In addition, she presented her work at the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics annual meeting and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a book launch and discussion. 

Deborah Hellman has guest blogged at Balkinization.

For a more detailed list of her publications, see her CV.