Melissa M. Goldstein, JD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University, where she teaches courses in bioethics (including genomics, reproductive ethics, end-of-life, and research ethics issues), health information technology policy, and public health law and conducts research on health information privacy and the legal and policy aspects of health information technology. Professor Goldstein is a former director of the Markle Foundation's health program, where she managed the policy subcommittee of Connecting for Health and other policy aspects of the foundation’s work in health information technology. Ms. Goldstein has also worked as a legal consultant to President Clinton’s National Bioethics Advisory Commission, a senior litigation associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom, LLP, and a White House Fellow and domestic policy advisor to Vice President Al Gore.
Professor Goldstein graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia, received her law degree from Yale Law School, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in bioethics and health policy at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities. She has served as a member of GW’s IRB and hospital ethics committee and speaks frequently on issues in bioethics, health policy, health information privacy, and health information technology. Ms. Goldstein’s recent research and writings have focused on privacy and security issues in health information exchange and the use of big data, as well as the effects of health information technology on the physician-patient relationship and patient engagement. During the 2010-2011 academic year, Professor Goldstein served as a senior advisor to the Chief Privacy Officer in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Most recently, Professor Goldstein served as the Assistant Director for Bioethics and Privacy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the final year of the Obama Administration.