Roojin Habibi is an international legal scholar specializing in global health law, public health law, human rights, and international law. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law (Common Law Section), a Senior Visiting Fellow at the United Nations University’s International Institute for Global Health, and a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar (2022–2025). She is also an active researcher with both the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics (CHLPE) and the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) at the University of Ottawa. Her work informs legal and policy responses to global health threats, with a primary focus on emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats.
As a Research Fellow at the Global Strategy Lab, Habibi served as lead author of the Stellenbosch Consensus Statement—a landmark legal analysis on cross-border health measures under the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (IHR). This work catalyzed the creation of the “Global Health Law Consortium,” a network of international legal scholars which Habibi has helped shape since its inception in 2020. In 2022, she was appointed to the WHO Director-General’s Review Committee on IHR amendments, advising WHO’s Member States on over 300 proposed changes to the IHR ahead of negotiations in 2023-2024. She currently serves on the Pan American Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Pandemic and Epidemic Prevention and Preparedness.
In 2023, Habibi co-founded and now co-chairs the Global Health Law Interest Group at the American Society of International Law (ASIL). She has led several high-level initiatives focused on human rights and public health emergencies and is a frequent expert commentator for media, governments, and international NGOs on the intersections of infectious diseases, human rights, and international law.
Habibi teaches public and constitutional law, and health law. She holds a law degree (J.D.) from uOttawa, a specialization in transnational law from the University of Geneva, and an M.Sc. in Global Health from McMaster University. She is a lawyer in Good Standing with the Law Society of Ontario and fluent in English, French, and Farsi. For more on her work, visit www.roojinhabibi.org or connect on 🦋 via @roojinhabibi.org.