Steven J. Hoffman

An international lawyer by training, Steven Hoffman is licensed to practice law in both Ontario and New York. His research integrates a range of analytical and empirical methods to study global health decision-making and evaluate international strategies for addressing global health threats, inequalities and human rights, particularly in the context of health systems strengthening, access to medicines, health security and knowledge translation. He teaches two fourth-year undergraduate courses at McMaster University on global health advocacy (HTH SCI 4ZZ3) and global health governance, law and politics (HTH SCI 4LD3) and a graduate course cross-listed between the Harvard School of Public Health and the Kennedy School of Government on innovation, access to medicines and global governance (GHP 554/SUP-517M).

Steven previously worked at a Toronto law firm specializing in cross-border intellectual property litigation, health product regulation and government relations. Building on this experience, he served as a Political Advisor on the executive team of Incentives for Global Health, a Yale University-based NGO devoted to improving global access to medicines, where was responsible for international advocacy and strategic planning. Steven also previously worked for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, where he managed the UN agency's Global Programme on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice. He advised the World Health Organization's development of a global strategy for health systems research and was lead author on the background paper that provided the strategy's conceptual underpinnings. Steven convenes an academic advisory committee on science reporting for Canada's only national weekly current affairs magazine and serves as a Fellow in the Executive Office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon where he offers strategic and technical input on a range of global health issues.

Steven holds a BHSc from McMaster University and an MA in Political Science and JD from the University of Toronto. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Health Policy at Harvard University and a Doctorate in Law at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris.