Matthew M. Kavanagh
School of Health
Law Center
Matthew M. Kavanagh is an assistant professor in the Department of Global Health at the School of Health and visiting professor of law at Georgetown Law. He also serves as director of the Global Health Policy & Politics Initiative at the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law.
February 28, 2024
News: The World Trade Organization Failed the World in Covid
In Foreign Policy, the O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanagh critiques the World Trade Organization's inability to waive global patent rules for COVID-19 treatment after three years of debate.
January 19, 2024
News: With Harsh Anti-LGBTQ Law, Uganda Risks a Health Crisis
Matthew Kavanagh, director of the Center for Global Health Policy and Politics at the O'Neill Institute, discussed the criminalization of homosexuality in Uganda in a recent New York Times article.
December 5, 2023
News: Drivers of HIV Treatment Interruption: Early Findings from Community-led Monitoring Program in Haiti
In a recent article for PLOS ONE, the O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanagh and Alana Sharp contend that improving treatment retention for people living with HIV is dependent on improving the acceptability and affordability of health care services.
December 1, 2023
News: Decriminalization of Gay Sex Boosts Global HIV Response: Report
In a December interview with The Advocate, the O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanagh emphasizes how decriminalizing same-sex sex has a profound impact on public health.
October 11, 2023
News: Georgetown University's O' Neill Institute and School of Health Announce the Establishment of the Center for Global Health Policy & Politics
Building upon the successes of the Global Health Policy & Politics Initiative, the Center for Global Health Policy & Politics aims to pioneer strong legal and political responses to improve global health equity, access, and accountability.
September 11, 2023
News: Watch the O'Neill Institute's Matthew M. Kavanagh's Interview About Vaccine Inequality
Matthew M. Kavanagh, director of the global health policy and politics initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, discusses vaccine inequality and COVID-19 vaccine contracts in South Africa during an interview on INX…
September 7, 2023
News: Increasing Compliance with International Pandemic Law
Matthew M. Kavanagh, director of the global health policy and politics initiative at the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, co-authored an article in the Lancet that proposes six mechanisms for increasing compliance with…
August 18, 2021
News: WHO Blasts COVID Booster Push for Wealthy as World's Poor Go Unvaccinated
Matthew Kavanagh (O'Neill Institute) commented on vaccine distribution to DW News: "Global allocation of [COVID-19] vaccines is currently not being made by public health officials but instead by a handful of company officials, who consistently…
August 2, 2021
News: Law, Criminalisation and HIV in the World: Have Countries that Criminalise Achieved More or Less Successful Pandemic Response?
Researchers from across Georgetown schools co-wrote an article about how countries that criminalized same sex relationships, sex work, and drug use had lower rates of HIV status awareness and lower viral suppression levels than countries that did not…
July 21, 2021
News: Pfizer Will Turn to a Plant in Africa to Help Supply the Continent with Vaccines Next Year
In the New York Times, Matthew Kavanagh (O'Neill Institute) explains why a partnership between Pfizer and a vaccine manufacturing plant in South Africa is "deeply disappointing." Only the final stage of production will take place at the plant…
July 18, 2021
News: Fauci Says Lab Leak Remains a Possibility, But Covid’s Natural Origins Theory Is a More Likely Explanation
In a recent Rolling Stone article, Matthew M. Kavanagh (O'Neill Institute) discussed the validity of the lab leak theory and how the investigation into the origin of SARS-2-CoV has been unnecessarily politicized by the Biden administration.
July 1, 2021
News: Sharing Technology and Vaccine Doses to Address Global Inequity and End the COVID-19 Pandemic
The O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanagh, Lawrence Gostin, and Madhavi Sunder co-wrote a recent Journal of the American Medical Association article contending we need to "waive intellectual property, share technology and expand manufacturing…
June 8, 2021
News: A U.N. Declaration on Ending AIDS Should Have Been Easy. It Wasn’t.
A recent New York Times article discusses the UN's new targets for HIV/AIDS. The O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanagh says key steps include removing laws that discriminate against high-risk populations and restrict access to affordable drugs.
June 7, 2021
News: We Are a Long Way from Vaccinating the World. Could a Patent Waiver Help?
Matthew Kavanagh (O'Neill Institute) was featured in a Dollar and Sense Podcast episode with David Dollar about how intellectual property laws are a barrier to equitable global COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
June 3, 2021
News: UNAIDS Global AIDS Update
The O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanagh spoke as part of the press launch of the UNAIDS Global AIDS Update, which shares new data showing that the 2020 targets set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2016 were not just aspirational but…
May 31, 2021
News: COVID-19 Vaccines Burnt as Shelf-Life Complicates Global Rollout
In April, Malawi burnt 20,000 expired doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Financial Times quotes Matthew Kavanagh of the O'Neill Institute about the ethical and public health dangers of high-income countries donating their leftover vaccines to African…
May 21, 2021
News: Preparing for the Next Pandemic
In BMJ the O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanagh and colleagues discuss their recommendations for addressing COVID-19 and preventing another pandemic, including equitable policymaking, capacity strengthening, and a new pandemic treaty.
May 15, 2021
News: What Would It Take to Vaccinate the World Against Covid?
In a New York Times article about the problems in global vaccination efforts and how to address them, the O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanagh says that major pharmaceutical companies implying that developing countries lack the acumen to master…
May 5, 2021
News: Biden Supports Waiving Intellectual-Property Rules on Vaccines
In a recent Los Angeles Times piece, the O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanagh and Lawrence Gostin discuss the TRIPS waiver and what more needs to be done. "The U.S. said it’ll take time to negotiate the text, but time isn’t on our side," said Gostin.
April 27, 2021
News: India’s COVID Crisis Highlights Global Vaccine Inequity
Georgetown's Madhavi Sunder and Matthew Kavanagh provide commentary in a piece in the Sydney Morning Herald about Western governments' tight control over patents and resources restricting the flow of vaccines in India. “This is a pandemic. Not one of…
April 12, 2021
News: Problems with Traffic Light Approaches to Public Health Emergency of International Concern
Amidst COVID-19, there have been increasing calls to reform the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) mechanism. In the Lancet, the O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanagh, Mara Pillinger, Alexandra Phelan, Sam Halabi, and other…
March 29, 2021
News: WHO Says COVID-19 Likely Started With Animals, Not Laboratory Leak
Matthew Kavanagh of the O'Neill Institute recently spoke with Foreign Policy on the origins of the pandemic. He noted, "It’s unclear if we will ever know the true origins of COVID-19. In the meantime, we need a stronger, more capable WHO, not one…
March 25, 2021
News: One Report, Four Theories: Scientists Mull Clues on Virus Origin
In regards to the upcoming WHO report on the joint search for the origins of the coronavirus, Georgetown's Matthew Kavanagh shared with the Associated Press his perspective on the global impact of this report and potential criticism of its…
March 10, 2021
News: Opinion: Poor Countries May Not Be Vaccinated Until 2024. Here’s How To Prevent That.
In a Washington Post op-ed, Georgetown's Matthew M. Kavanagh and Madhavi Sunde argue that intellectual property rights should not get in the way of global vaccination.
March 1, 2021
News: To Democratize Vaccine Access, Democratize Production
The O'Neill Institute's Matthew Kavanaugh, Mara Pillinger, Renu Singh, and Katherine Ginsbach argue in Foreign Policy for the need to democratize vaccine production and recognize the significant human and production capacity in Africa, Asia, and…
October 23, 2020
News: Advice on How to Address the Lack of Progress in the Global Tuberculosis Response
Tuberculosis is one of the world's leading infectious killers. Matthew Kavanagh, Lawrence Gostin, and John Stephens at Georgetown Law's O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law recently published an article on PLOS Medicine providing…
October 15, 2020
News: Global Policy Surveillance on Health Law and Policy
Matthew Kavanagh and Mara Pillinger of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law co-authored an article on how longitudinal legal data are used for comparative analysis and proposed that global policy surveillance…
September 15, 2020
News: Joining COVAX Could Save American Lives
Georgetown scholars Eric A. Friedman, Lawrence O. Gostin, Matthew M. Kavanagh, and John T. Monahan recently co-authored a Foreign Policy article assessing President Trump's decision not to participate in a vaccine partnership that would ensure…
July 15, 2020
News: New Article on Global Health, HIV, and the Politics of Data
Georgetown professors Matthew M. Kavanagh and Charles B. Holmes were two of the co-authors for "Reckoning with mortality: global health, HIV, and the politics of data," a July 3, 2020 viewpoint published in the Lancet.
July 9, 2020
News: Leaving the WHO Will Hurt Americans' Health
Matthew Kavanagh and Mara Pillinger of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law co-published an article in Foreign Policy conveying the importance of the WHO for U.S. public health.
January 24, 2023
Addressing Global Vaccine Inequities and Hesitancies Event
March 10, 2022
The Present and Future of the HIV Policy Landscape Event
Department of Global Health Georgetown Unit
The Department of Global Health is an academic department in the School of Health offering graduate and undergraduate programs in global health with unique opportunities for hands-on learning and research locally, nationally, and abroad.
Georgetown Law Georgetown Unit
Founded in 1870, Georgetown Law offers Juris Doctor, Master of Laws, Doctor of Juridical Science, and non-degree programs in the legal field.
Georgetown University Medical Center Georgetown Unit
Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic medical center focused on research, teaching, and patient care.
O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law Georgetown Unit
Founded in 2007, the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law is a research institute based at Georgetown Law focused on public and private law in health policy analysis.
School of Health Georgetown Unit
Established in 2022, the School of Health is a home for scholars and students to work collaboratively across disciplines and across the university to address human health and well-being from various perspectives to achieve a deeper understanding of…
Global Health Initiative 2019 Faculty Forum Part One Video
The 2019 GHI Faculty Forum was an opportunity for members of the Georgetown community to come together from across campuses and schools to learn more about one another's work in global health and explore collaboration opportunities.
Matthew Kavanagh Discusses the O'Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law Video
The 2019 GHI Faculty Forum was an opportunity for members of the Georgetown community to come together from across campuses and schools to learn more about one another's work in global health and explore collaboration opportunities.