Center for Bioethics

Ross Silverman JD, MPH, is Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health and Professor of Public Health and Law at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law.  He is a faculty investigator at the Indiana University Center for Bioethics. Professor Silverman is the director of the JD-MPH Dual Degree Program in the Fairbanks School of Public Health and McKinney School of Law and teaches courses in both schools. He serves numerous leadership positions in the field of public health law, including as a mentor in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Georgia State University Future of Public Health Law Education: Faculty Fellowship Program, as a member of the American Public Health Association Action Board, and as past chair of the American Public Health Association Law Section.

Professor Silverman graduated from Indiana University with a BA in History. He went on to receive his MPH from Boston University School of Public Health and JD from Boston University School of Law.  From 1998-2013, he was faculty at Southern Illinois University Schools of Medicine and Law, where he last held the positions of Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical Humanities and Professor of Psychiatry at SIU School of Medicine, and Professor of Medical Jurisprudence at SIU School of Law. While in Springfield, Illinois, he served as an appointed Commissioner to the Springfield Disabilities Commission, a board member of the Springfield School District Foundation, and as a member of the Memorial Medical Center Human Values and Ethics Committee.

Professor Silverman’s research interests include legal, ethical and policy issues in public health and medicine, including vaccines and substance use disorder, mobile health law and policy, interdisciplinary curriculum development, professional school admissions, medical humanities, human rights, and patient safety.

Selected Courses:

McKinney School of Law, IUPUI: LAW D761 - Law and Public Health

Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, IUPUI: PBHL H756 - Leadership in Global Health Law & Ethics

Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, IUPUI: PBHL H641 - Ethics and Public Health

Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, IUPUI: PBHL H361 - Leadership in Health Management: Resolving Disputes & Difficult Conversations

Vaccine Law and Policy  

Selected Publications:

• Silverman RD, DJ Opel, SB Omer. Vaccination Over Parental Objection — Should Adolescents be Allowed to Consent to Vaccines? New Eng J Med, 2019 Jul 11;381(2):104-106. Epub 2019 Jun 5.
• Silverman RD.Controlling Measles through Politics and Policy. Hastings Cent Rep. 2019 May;49(3):8-9, Epub 2019 Apr 22.
• Silverman RD & Wiley LF. Shaming Vaccine Refusal, J of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2018; 45(4): 569-81.
• Silverman, Ross D. Google Scholar Vaccine Search

Opiates

Selected Publications:

• JR Jackson JR, C Harle C, Silverman RD, Simon K, Menachemi N. Characterizing variability in state-level regulations governing opioid treatment programs. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2020 Aug;115:108008.
• Andraka-Christou B, Gabriel M, Madeira J, Silverman RD. Court personnel attitudes towards medication-assisted treatment: A state-wide survey. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2019 Sep;104:72-82. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2019.06.011. Epub 2019 Jun 28.
• Terry NP, Silverman RD, Hoss AH, et al., Innovations in Opioid Law and Policy Interventions Workshop: Summary of Proceedings, August 2018.
• Terry, NP, Silverman RD, Hoss AH, et al., Legal and Policy Best Practices in Response to the Substance Abuse Crisis, March 30, 2018.

Selected Grants:

Indiana Addictions Law and Policy Surveillance Project

• Role: Principle Investigator
• Dates: 2018 – 2022
• Funder: Indiana University Addictions Grand Challenge, Phase 2
• Description: A community-engaged effort that will draw upon an interdisciplinary team of experts in law, policy, public health, health care, social work, implementation science, and program analysis to use policy surveillance and legal epidemiology research techniques to analyze the content, implementation, and impact of local, state, and national laws and policies related to addiction.

Legal & Policy Best Practices in Response to the Substance Use Crisis

• Role: co-Principle Investigator
• Dates: Jan-Aug 2018
• Funder: Indiana University Addictions Grand Challenge, Phase 1
• Description: Our aim was to develop recommendations pertaining to the content and implementation of Indiana and Federal laws and policies affecting local, state, and federal response to the substance use crisis.

Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention for States

• Role: co-Principle Investigator
• Dates: 2016-2019
• Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Description: The aim of this study was to conduct law and policy analysis for the Indiana State Department of Health in collaboration with the Fairbanks School of Public Health. This work has resulted in several peer reviewed publications, reports on law and policy responses to the addictions crisis, as well as numerous policy briefs and publications in the lay press.

For additional research areas and projects, please see CV or website at Fairbanks School of Public Health

Selected Activities:

• Director, JD-MPH Dual Degree Program, 2013-present
• Chair, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis Promotion and Tenure Committee, 2015-present
• Board Member, Indiana Health Advocacy Coalition, 2014-present
• Grants & Evaluation Committee, Indiana Health Advocacy Coalition, 2015-present
• Member, Law Section, Exec Committee, American Public Health Association, 2012-present
• Member, Indiana Public Health Practice Council, 2015-present
• Member, Expert Review Workgroup, Public Health Law Program Legal Epidemiology Competency Model Project, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016-present
• Strategic Planning Committee Member, The Immunization Partnership, 2014-present