Melodie Labuschaigne

Professor Melodie Labuschaigne is Professor in Medical law and Ethics in the Department of Jurisprudence in the School of Law, University of South Africa. She is a former Director of the School of Law and Deputy Executive Dean of the College of Law at UNISA. She obtained the degrees BA, BA (Hons), MA and DLitt from the University of Pretoria, and the degrees LLB and LLD (in medical law) from the University of South Africa. She has published numerous articles on the legal regulation of stem cell research and human tissue, genomic and genetic research, gene editing and assisted reproduction, in local and international law journals and has presented many local and international conference papers. She is a recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research from the University of SA, the Women in Research Leadership Award, and the Hugo de Groot Prize. She has been involved with the revision and drafting of health legislation for many years and is regularly approached to provide legal opinions on legal issues relating to medical law. During 2016-2018 she served on the Academy of Sciences of South Africa consensus panel on Human genetics and genomics in South Africa: Ethical, legal and social implications. She serves on the Bioethics Advisory Panel advising the President of the SAMRC, and was appointed by the Minister of Health in December 2020 to serve as the legal member on the National Health Research Ethics Council.