Roojin Habibi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law (Common Law Section), a Senior Visiting Fellow of the United Nations University’s International Institute for Global Health, and a Research Fellow of the Global Strategy Lab based at York University and the University of Ottawa. Bridging the fields of international law, health law and human rights, her current research program examines normative interpretation and change in global health law. Her mixed methods and collaborative approach to research has led to the convening of several international conferences as well as publications across a range of venues, including in journals of public health and medicine, law and social science reviews, commissioned reports, foundational law textbooks, and public news and media outlets.
Professor Habibi’s research has a track record of global impact. In 2019, she was the lead author and rapporteur of the "Stellenbosch Consensus Statement on Legal National Responses to Public Health Risks," providing the world’s first in-depth interpretation of the legal parameters governing the application of cross-border health measures under the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) 2005 International Health Regulations. This consensus statement, developed with leading global health law scholars from around the world, served as a catalyst for the formation of the "Global Health Law Consortium," a permanent research collaborative that Professor Habibi has helped shape since 2020.
She is currently contributing her expertise in ongoing negotiations to draft a WHO pandemic instrument and to amend the International Health Regulations. In 2022, she was appointed by the WHO Director-General to the high profile Review Committee regarding amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005), providing technical recommendations to WHO Member States on more than 300 proposed amendments to the Regulations. Alongside these roles, she has led on consensus-building initiatives at the frontiers of global health law and human rights, founding a partnership between the Global Health Law Consortium and the International Commission of Jurists that culminated in the 2023 Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies.
Professor Habibi’s research and teaching portfolio has earned her several distinctions. She is a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar, a recipient of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Doctoral Award, and was elected by Lincoln Alexander School of Law’s Class of 2025 for the Contract Faculty Teaching Award. She is or has been a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on health research and advocacy projects funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Open Society Foundations, the United Kingdom Research Institute, and the Brocher Foundation.
Professor Habibi currently teaches in the areas of public and constitutional law, and public and global health law. She holds a law degree (J.D.) from the University of Ottawa's French Common Law program, a specialization in transnational law from the University of Geneva Faculty of Law, and a Master’s of Science in Global Health from McMaster University. She is a Barrister and Solicitor in Good Standing with the Law Society of Ontario and is fluent in English, French, and Farsi. For updates on Professor Habibi’s research, teaching and public engagements, visit www.roojinhabibi.org or follow her on Twitter via @RoojinHabibi.