Taylor Burke, J.D., L.L.M.

Professor Taylor Burke is an Assistant Professor of Health Law and Policy in the Department of Health Policy. He also serves as the Managing Director of the MPH in Health Policy program.

Professor Taylor Burke specializes in legal and policy issues as they relate to health information technology (HIT). He has authored numerous articles, reports and white papers detailing the various legal barriers to HIT adoption and use, specifically with respect to the electronic health record. Professor Burke has served and continues to serve as one of the lead attorneys for the multi-year Legal Barriers to Health Information Project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the aim of which is to achieve greater transparency in health information for quality improvement purposes. Professor Burke has opined and written extensively on HIT legal issues, delivered speeches to health care providers regarding liability issues as they relate to HIT, and offered trainings regarding compliance with the law. Prior to joining the GW faculty in 2003, Professor Burke was an associate with the law firm of Hogan & Hartson where he practiced FDA law, general litigation and handled numerous pro bono adoption and public benefit cases. Professor Burke also teaches several courses in the MPH curriculum that relate to the intersection of health policy and the law, including Policy Approaches to Public Health, a section of Health Services & the Law, a bioethics course entitled Life, Death, & Human Subjects, and a doctoral seminar The Selective Excellence Initiative: Doctoral Pro-seminar of Teacher Preparation & Special Education. Additionally, Professor Burke conducts considerable research in the area of health care reform, including food and drug policy, managed care, and the rights of the disabled. Generally, Professor Burke's research includes various issues at the intersection of health policy and the law.

Bachelor of Arts (European History), The Washington & Lee University, 1995
Juris Doctor, The American University Washington College of Law, 1999
Master of Laws (Health Law), The George Washington University Law School, 2004

PUBH 6005: Policy Approaches to Public Health, SPHHS core course
PUBH 283: Health Services & the Law, Department of Health Policy core course PUBH 292: Life, Death & Human Subjects, Department of Health Policy elective course
SPED 220: The Selective Excellence Initiative: Doctoral Pro-seminar of Teacher Preparation & Special Education

Professor Burke's research focuses primarily on the many complex legal issues that lie at the heart of health information collection and use in today's emerging HIT environment. Revitalized efforts at health care reform include substantial investments in the "computerization" of paper medical records, and the arrival of the electronic health record carries many legal considerations for providers, health insurance companies, employers, public health researchers and governmental agencies regarding the proper collection and use of health information. Professor Burke's research portfolio aims to clarify both the real and perceived legal barriers for all stakeholders that accompany increased adoption and use of new information technologies.

Professor Burke serves on the board of directors of L'Arche Greater Washington DC, an organization that provides housing and individualized support services to low-income people with intellectual disabilities. Professor Burke has also assisted in testifying before Congress on issues related to medical liability reform, been a volunteer with the Special Olympics, raised funds to fight muscular dystrophy and served in homeless shelters and soup kitchens.