Michael S. Sinha, M.D., J.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor
Center for Health Law Studies
Center for International and Comparative Law
Courses Taught
FDA Law & Policy; Patent Law; Public Health Law; Torts; Health Equity, Policy & Advocacy (Experiential); Stigma, Health, and the Law (Seminar); Drug and Device Innovation (Seminar); Health Care and AI (Seminar)
Education
M.P.H., Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA (Law and Public Health
Concentration)
J.D. (cum laude), SIU School of Law, Carbondale, IL (Health Law Concentration)
M.D., SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, IL
B.A. (cum laude), Biophysical Chemistry (Honors), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Practice Areas
Associate Professor Michael Sinha has a background in law, medicine, and public health. Prior to coming to SLU LAW, he served in various research and teaching roles at Harvard Medical School, Northeastern University School of Law, and Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Originally from St. Louis (Soulard), Dr. Sinha completed his undergraduate degree in biophysical chemistry from Dartmouth College (minor: African-American Studies) before returning to St. Louis to conduct research in medical oncology at Washington University School of Medicine. He then completed a combined M.D./J.D. program at Southern Illinois University and trained in internal medicine in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
During his clinical training, Dr. Sinha earned an M.P.H. with a concentration in Law and Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. While in Boston, he renewed his focus on health law research and scholarship through fellowships at the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Science at Harvard Medical School. He continues as Affiliated Faculty at PORTAL and is a Core Partner at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Biomedical Innovation Law (CeBIL) at the University of Copenhagen.
Research Interests
Professor Sinha's current research focuses broadly at the intersection of medicine and law, with recent law review articles focused on competition and intellectual property in the pharmaceutical industry. His core areas of expertise are FDA Law, Public Health Law, and Patent Law. Recent work also relates to gender equity, reproductive justice, and artificial intelligence in health care.
Publications and Media Placements
Medical publications have appeared in NEJM, JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine, JAMA Network Open, Anesthesiology, CHEST, PLOS Medicine, Health Affairs, NEJM AI, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the American Journal of Public Health, and the American Journal of Bioethics.
His legal scholarship includes articles in the Journal of Legal Medicine, the American Journal of Law & Medicine, the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, the Harvard Law & Policy Review, the Food and Drug Law Journal, the Stanford Law & Policy Review, the Journal of Law and the Biosciences, the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology, the Hastings Law Journal, the Utah Law Review (forthcoming), the American University Law Review, and the UC Irvine Law Review. His work has appeared in news outlets including the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bloomberg Law, Law360, STAT News, POLITICO Prescription Pulse, Newsweek, Medscape Medical News, and RAPS Regulatory Focus.
Professional Organizations and Associations
Professor Sinha is a Fellow of the American College of Legal Medicine. He has also been a member of the American Medical Association since 2007. Professor Sinha is a strong advocate for gender equity, founding the American Medical Women’s Association’s Allies for Equity in Medicine, a group of diverse allies within AMWA committed to working collaboratively to advance opportunities for equity and inclusion in medicine. He also belongs to the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, the American Bar Association, and the St. Louis Area Health Lawyers Association.