Health Law and Policy Program

The Eleventh Annual AUWCL National Health Law Writing Competition

The Eleventh Annual AUWCL National Health Law Writing Competition has closed! This competition is designed to encourage law students to write scholarly papers on current topics of interest relevant to health law and/or food and drug law. Current 2L, 3L, and 4L (part-time) JD and LLM students enrolled in a U.S. law school at the time of paper submission are eligible to participate. PAPERS MUST MEET COMPETITION RULES AND REQUIREMENTS.

Prizes
First Place: $1,500
Second Place: $1,000
Third Place: $500
Honorable Mention: $150

Many thanks to our American University Washington College of Law alumni for generously sponsoring the competition prizes.

The competition opened on December 8th and closed on Sunday, May 3, 2026.

Please direct all questions to health@wcl.american.edu.

submission portal has closed!

Competition Rules & Requirements

Past Winners

Congratulations to Our 2025-2026 Winners

FIRST PLACE

Kerri Tang
Wayne State University Law School
Paper title: Don't Kickback, and Relax: Navigating the Post-Regeneron Circuit Split and the Unsettled Future of 'Resulting From' in 2026

SECOND PLACE

Lucas Girardi
Seton Hall University School of Law
Paper title: Why Unenforced Discretionary CIA Penalties Trigger Reverse False Claim Liability under the FCA

Third Place

Max Cheng
The University of Iowa College of Law
Paper title: Fertilization-to-Felony? Managing Iowas Shift Toward 'Fetal Personhood' Liability

Meet Our Judges

Christopher J. (“CJ”) Frisina

Christopher J. (“CJ”) Frisina is a senior associate in Alston & Bird LLP’s Health Care Practice Group and focuses his practice on health care fraud, waste, and abuse as well as compliance matters, including the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law, Civil Monetary Penalties, and the False Claims Act. CJ has advised a variety of health care providers and suppliers, including hospital systems, retail and specialty pharmacies, long-term care and senior living facilities, and clinical laboratories. He has represented his clients in criminal, civil, and administrative investigations and routinely assists clients in responding to government inquiries, including from the Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the HHS Office of Inspector General, and the Office of Personnel Management.

Erin Greene

Erin Greene is the US Lead for Global Regulatory Policy and Innovation at Takeda. She focuses on Oncology Regulatory Affairs and leads policy initiatives on Diversity in Clinical Trials, New Approach Methods (NAMs), Model Informed Drug Development (MIDD), and Pediatric Oncology. Since 2019, Erin has been a member of the International Council for Harmonization (ICH) M15 MIDD Expert Working Group. Previously, Erin was a Senior Manager of International Regulatory Sciences and Policy at Pfizer, where she led the US and international policy and advocacy strategy on Patient Focused Drug Development (PFDD), expedited regulatory pathways, MIDD, scientific dialogue between regulators and sponsors, and pediatrics. Erin has worked in health law and pharmaceutical policy since 2014, with roles in state government affairs for the Association for Accessible Medicines and as a health policy analyst for Consumers Union. Erin holds a law degree from American University’s Washington College of Law and a BA in English from UCLA.

John Johnson III

John Johnson III is a regulatory attorney at Shook, Hardy & Bacon where he counsels and represents clients regarding FDA and other agencies involving the regulation of food, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, and consumer products. As such, he helps clients manage issues such as how a mentholated cough drop is labeled and registered as a drug product, but made according to the food manufacturing regulations. He also helps clients engage with the regulators in a way that appreciates the difference between an inspector’s observations, a compliance officer’s decision, and recommendations for headquarters. John seeks to combine his passions for history, law, science, and product together as he works with clients. Lastly, his favorite court case involved the legal question: when is a lot of canned asparagus “too woody” to no longer be considered “food.”

Shruti Modi

Shruti Modi is a regulatory counsel in the Office of New Drug Policy in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She provides regulatory and policy advice on a variety of matters, including priority review vouchers, qualified infectious disease product designation, and formal disputes. Prior to this, she worked as a regulatory counsel and the Associate Ombudsman in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at FDA and in FDA’s Office of Legislation. Shruti holds a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law (WCL), an M.P.P. from Pepperdine University, and a B.A. from the University of California at San Diego. During law school, she interned at HHS, DOJ, and FDA, and she also served as a Note and Comment Editor for the American University Law Review. She graduated from WCL in 2016.

Phoebe Ramsey

Phoebe Ramsey is Director of Physician Payment & Quality Policy at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), where she provides regulatory counsel to member academic health systems on issues relating to health care quality measurement, Medicare value-based care payment design, health equity, and health information technology. She also provides policy insight as a member of the AAMC Center for Health Justice’s Policy Team. Prior to joining the AAMC she led the implementation of accountable care organization (ACO) payment models at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Innovation Center. She earned her J.D. with honors from American University Washington College of Law (WCL) and her B.A. with honors from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School for Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Alexandra Spratt

Alexandra (Alex) Spratt is Director, Commercial Sector Prices at Arnold Ventures. Her work includes the identification of robust philanthropic opportunities, policy research and analysis, and stakeholder engagement and communications efforts aimed at advancing lower prices across the health care system. Prior to joining Arnold Ventures, Alex was a senior policy analyst at CapView Strategies, a boutique health policy consulting firm in Washington, D.C., where she primarily focused on Medicare and Medicaid payment and delivery reform and alternative payment models, health reform, and drug pricing. During law school, she interned on Capitol Hill, in the Maryland Senate, and at several policy and advocacy organizations focused on health care and women’s issues. She graduated from American University Washington College of Law in 2015 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida.

Jessica Winslow

Jessica Winslow is an Associate in the Health Services Practice Group at Groom Law Group where she advises clients on a variety of compliance issues relating to health and welfare benefit plans. She is a contributing author for the COBRA Law and Compliance Guide (published by LexisNexis) and was recognized in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America for Health Care Law.