Vanessa Gruben

Board Member

B.Sc.H, LL.B., LL.M.

Vanessa Gruben has always been interested in the difficult legal and ethical issues of healthcare. She brings that interest to her roles as Vice Dean of the English Common Law Program, Associate Professor and a member of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa. She also loves to teach and shares her knowledge by teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in Health Law, Public Health Law as well as a seminar on Access to Health Care.

She is co-editor of the 5th edition of Canada’s leading health law text, Canadian Health Law and Policy, with Joanna Erdman and Erin Nelson. Her most recent book is Surrogacy in Canada: Critical Perspectives in Law and Policy, co-edited with Alana Cattapan and Angela Cameron. 

Vanessa’s research focuses on professional self-regulation, assisted reproduction, organ donation, and harm reduction. Her research has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canadian Blood Services, and the Foundation for Legal Research.

Vanessa is a great addition to the AMS Board as she is deeply committed to promoting high quality, compassionate health care for patients through the use of technology and innovative strategies and the ways in which regulatory bodies protect and promote it.