International scholar to address human right to health and law

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has placed a renewed focus on the human right to health, a protection provided by numerous international declarations. To address health as a human right and the legal obligation it creates, the West Virginia University School of Public Health and College of Law will welcome an international human rights and law scholar for two public lectures.

David H. Moore, professor of law at Brigham Young University, will present “Interpreting Human Rights” and “The International Human Right to Health” from noon to 1 p.m. on Oct. 6 and Oct. 13, respectively.

Moore currently serves on the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe’s Moscow Mechanism, providing expertise to address specific human rights concerns. A collaboration highlighting the crucial value of law in advancing global health with justice, Moore has been selected to serve as the 2021 John T. Copenhaver, Jr. Chair at WVU.

"Interpreting Human Rights” will be webcast from the College of Law’s YouTube channel (Oct. 6, noon to 1 p.m.). “The International Human Right to Health” will be presented as part of the School of Public Health’s Dean’s Colloquium Series via livestream on MDTV (Oct. 13, noon to 1 p.m.) and is part of WVU Diversity Week. Both lectures are free and open to the public.

“Improving global health remains a prominent focus in the field of public health and is an issue that requires the efforts of everyone – from all disciplines and backgrounds,” said Jeffrey Coben, MD, dean of the School of Public Health. “It is a privilege to welcome internationally renowned scholar Professor Moore, whose expertise and insights will undoubtedly be a good fit for our colloquium series and a catalyst for a meaningful, cross-disciplinary discussion.”

As a visiting professor at WVU, Moore will also teach a two-week course titled “Health & International Human Rights.” The course dives into health through the lens of international law and foreign relations law, exploring health as a human right through a legal perspective and providing a review of international law, human rights law and U.S. foreign relations law.

“Professor Moore is an exceptional, skilled and experienced voice in international human rights,” said Erik Carlton, DrPH, associate dean for professional programs in the School of Public Health. “From the hallowed halls of the U.S. Supreme Court to his worldwide travels and scholarly work, his ability to address complex health and human rights issues at a moment when the WVU community continues to manage the repercussions of the pandemic could not be better timed. We are thrilled he agreed to serve as the 2021 Copenhaver Chair.”

Moore holds the Sterling and Eleanor Colton Endowed Chair in Law and is the associate director of the Brigham Young University International Center for Law and Religion Studies, which helps secure international religious freedom. In 2020, he was elected to a brief term on the United Nations Human Rights Committee, a body of independent experts that monitors states’ implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Moore also served as acting deputy administrator and general counsel of the U.S. Agency for International Development and clerked for Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and he has an extensive academic career that spans Brigham Young University, George Washington University, University of Kentucky and University of Chicago.

Download the Oct. 13 event flyer.

Pictured at top: David H. Moore (submitted photo). 

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-WVU-

jdw/09/27/21

CONTACT: Nikky Luna, Director of Marketing and Communications
WVU School of Public Health
304.293.1699; nikky.luna@hsc.wvu.edu

OR

CONTACT: James Jolly, Director of Marketing and Communications
WVU College of Law
304.293.7349; james.jolly@mail.wvu.edu