Professor John Jacobi to Be Honored by the Community Health Law Project, October 22

Dean Kathleen M. Boozang calls Professor Jacobi "an unsung hero in the fight for healthcare for vulnerable citizens"

John V. Jacobi, Dorothea Dix Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy, is among the honorees receiving the Ann Klein Advocate Award from the Community Health Law Project on October 22.

The Community Health Law Project provides legal and advocacy services and training to individuals with disabilities, and will recognize Professor Jacobi for his dedication to representing New Jersey's underserved populations. The Ann Klein Advocacy Awards are presented annually, named for former Commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Human Services. Ann Klein was instrumental in establishing a community-based system of care for people with mental and physical disabilities.

“John is an unsung hero in the fight for healthcare for vulnerable citizens. I am delighted that the Community Health Law Project has chosen to honor John,” said Dean Kathleen M. Boozang, who has worked with Professor Jacobi for more than two decades, building the Seton Hall Law Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy to international prominence. “John epitomizes what Seton Hall Law School ultimately stands for, which is service to the least among us. There is no one more dedicated than John to ensuring that our nation’s healthcare system serves those most in need. His contributions are evident in his scholarship, his teaching, his work in the community, his pursuit of law reform, and his commitment to public service throughout his career.”

Professor Jacobi writes and speaks on issues including disability rights, health access and finance, public health and mental health. As the leader of the Sentinel Project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Professor Jacobi employs individual advocacy and broad-based information gathering and analysis to measure the effectiveness of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) implementation in New Jersey, and to develop recommendations for improvement.

Professor Jacobi’s work on the ground and his scholarship are inextricably linked, focusing on state implementation of Medicaid and private health insurance reform, the systemic improvement of care for the chronically ill, the funding and structure of services for children with disabilities, serving people with serious mental illness, and the clash of disability rights and public health interests.

Professor Jacobi worked for five years for the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate as Special Assistant to the Commissioner where he worked on health, civil rights, and disability issues through litigation and advocacy in the legislature and regulatory agencies. He then became a Gibbons Fellow at Gibbons P.C., where he pursued health, prisoners’ rights, and disability issues. During 2007-08 he was on leave from the Law School, serving as Senior Associate Counsel to New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine on Health, Human Services, and Children's Issues. He serves on the Board of the Greater Newark Healthcare Coalition, and the North Jersey Community Research Initiative, an HIV service organization.

Seton Hall University School of Law, New Jersey's only private law school and a leading Catholic law school in the New York metropolitan area, is dedicated to preparing students for the practice of law through excellence in scholarship and teaching with a strong focus on experiential learning. The Seton Hall Law Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy advances scholarship and recommendations for policy on the varied and complex issues that emerge within pharmaceutical and health law. Additionally, the Center is a leader in providing compliance training on the wide-ranging state, national, and international mandates that apply to the safety, promotion, and sale of drugs and devices. Seton Hall Law School offers day and evening programs for J.D., M.S.J. and LL.M. degree candidates, as well as an Online Learning division enabling professionals to earn graduate certificates. Founded in 1951, Seton Hall Law School is located in Newark. For more information, visit law.shu.edu.