Leigh Haynes

Associate Professor of Practice and Director of the Master of Public Health Program

Leigh Haynes teaches serves as the course designer for several courses across the MPH program, including Health Equity and Social Justice, Health Advocacy, Community Organizing, and Innovation, and Health Law and Human Rights. Her research and practice centers around health and human rights law and policy and the role social movements and people’s organizations play in securing human rights and social justice for everyone. Haynes brings her vast experience in national and global public health and human rights law, policy, and advocacy to the MPH program. In addition to her role as Director of the MPH program, Haynes is the faculty advisor to the MPH student activist group HERE4Justice.
 

Education

  • Master of Laws (LLM), International and European Law, from Vrije Universiteit Brussel
  • Master of Public Health (MPH), University of Texas Health Science Center
  • Juris Doctor (JD), University of New Mexico School of Law
  • BBA, Organizational Behavior and Business Policy, from Southern Methodist University
  • BA, Spanish, from Southern Methodist University

Courses

  • MHEO 410 Health Equity and Social Justice
  • MHEO 440 Health Policy Analysis and Change
  • MHEO 465 Health Advocacy, Community Organizing, and Innovation
  • MHEO 488 Health Law and Human Rights in Practice

Community Engagement

Haynes is active in policy and advocacy work nationally and internationally and is part of the People’s Health Movement regionally (North America and Europe) and globally, is a member of the Framework on Global Health Alliance, board member of Hesperian Health Guides, and a member of the supervisory board of Wemos.

Research/Special Projects

Mapping Privatization: This project aims to uncover the connections between directors of corporations, their relations to government, and private equity that are driving the global proliferation of financialization, commercialization, and privatization of health.

Public Pharma Europe: A conference to review current proposals and discuss innovations towards a public pharmaceutical infrastructure that is driven by public health needs. The conference brings together civil society, activists, and scholars from across Europe to consolidate ideas and strategise for advocacy and change.

Publications/Presentations

Haynes, L., Ram, R., Marathe, S., Falçao, M. (2023) People over profit: a critical paradigm shift to realize health for all.

Ram, R., Haynes, L. (2023) The Future of Health: Public or Profit? It can't be both.

Haynes, L., Mukhopadhyay, B. (2022) Investors in long-term care profit as aged and disabled residents and workers bear brunt of COVID-19.

Haynes, L., de Falco, R., Thys, J. (2022) Civil society organizations criticize World Bank Group for privatization of healthcare.

Haynes, L. (2022) Bitter pill: How the EU's defence of pharma profits could keep COVID treatments out of reach for millions.

Haynes, L., Friedman, E., Bertscher, A., Xu, J. Galvao, L. (2021) Addressing inequity and advancing the right to health to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response – A Civil Society Perspective.

Matsoso, P., Buss, P., Haynes LK. (2021) Reform or Revolution in Global Health? Project Syndicate.

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

  • Law Section, American Public Health Association
  • International Health Section, American Public Health Association
  • People's Health Movement

Awards

  • American Public Health Association, Distinguished Service to the Law Section (2022)

Leigh Haynes in the News

Simmons University Cupola

With HERE4Justice, MPH Students Work to Advance Social Justice

For many students in the Department of Public Health, activism begins at Simmons. In 2018, MPH students established HERE4Justice, a student-run organization that works to advance health equity, racial equity, and social justice. "Students started this collective because they saw...