Roojin Habibi

Research Fellow, Global Strategy Lab

Roojin offers expertise and can speak on topics in the following fields: International law, global health security, health law, health and human rights, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Media

International Law and Quarantine on Diamond Princess Cruise Ship

Live television interview with BBC News Channel on February 19, 2020.

Canada breaches international treaties for legalizing recreational marijuana

Television interview with CGTN America on Canada's breach of international treaties governing the use of recreational cannabis.

International Legal Dimensions of Cannabis Legalization

Presentation delivered at the McGill University Institute of Health and Social Policy's Annual Conference on the international legal dimensions of cannabis legalization (2018, Montreal).

tbs eFM This Morning, February 27, 2020Radio/Podcast

URL: https://podcasts.apple.com/kr/podcast/0227-news-focus-1-legal-human-rights-issues-covid-19/id1038822609?i=1000466813840&l=en

Interview with Alex Jensen from tbs eFM This Morning in Seoul, South Korea.

Canada should not join other countries in instituting travel restrictions – or in breaking international law

The Global and Mail, February 13, 2020Print

URL: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canada-should-not-join-other-countries-in-instituting-travel/

Health Canada dangerously opaque when it comes to pharmaceuticals

Toronto Star, March 24, 2014Print

URL: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/03/24/health_canada_dangerously_opaque_when_it_comes_to_pharmaceuticals.html

Les Canadiens meritent d'en savoir plus sur les médicaments qu'on leur prescrit

Huffington Post Québec, April 14, 2014Print

URL: https://quebec.huffingtonpost.ca/roojin-habib/medicaments-sante-canada_b_5125083.html

Health experts question coronavirus quarantine measures on cruise ship

The Guardian, March 18, 2020Online

URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/18/global-health-experts-question-cruise-ship-coronavirus-quarantine-measures

Senators push for plan to deal with fallout when Canada legalizes cannabis and breaks international law

The Lawyers Daily, May 10, 2018Online

URL: https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6489/senators-push-for-plan-to-deal-with-fallout-when-canada-legalizes-cannabis-and-breaks-international-law

Canada’s cannabis conundrum

OpenCanada, June 28, 2019Online

URL: https://www.opencanada.org/features/canadas-cannabis-conundrum/

International law experts say legal cannabis defies Canada’s UN treaty obligations

Canadian Lawyer, November 8, 2018Online

URL: https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/legalfeeds/author/aidan-macnab/international-law-experts-say-legal-cannabis-defies-canadas-un-treaty-obligations-16470/

2018 Calgary Luncheon Speaker Series

Human Rights and Coronavirus: What’s at Stake for Truth, Trust, and Democracy?

by Alicia Ely Yamin & Roojin Habibi

Published by Health and Human Rights Journal

March 1, 2020

URL: https://www.hhrjournal.org/2020/03/human-rights-and-coronavirus-whats-at-stake-for-truth-trust-and-democracy/

Do not violate the International Health Regulations during the COVID-19 outbreak

by Roojin Habibi, Gian Luca Burci, Thana C de Campos, Danwood Chirwa, Margherita Cinà, Stéphanie Dagron, Mark Eccleston-Turner, Lisa Forman, Lawrence O Gostin, Benjamin Mason Meier, Stefania Negri, Gorik Ooms, Sharifah Sekalala, Allyn Taylor, Alicia Ely Yamin, Steven J. Hoffman

Published by The Lancet

February 13, 2020

URL: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30373-1/fulltext

Quality and quantity of information in Summary Basis of Decision documents issued by Health Canada

by Roojin Habibi, Joel Lexchin

Published by PLoS One

March 20, 2014

URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0092038

Do efficacy claims in pharmaceutical sales visits vary by approved product information or national policy?

by Roojin Habibi

Published by McMaster University Dissertations and Theses

April 27, 2015

URL: https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/handle/11375/17216

International legal barriers to cannabis legalization

by Steven J. Hoffman, Roojin Habibi

Published by Canadian Medical Association Journal

May 17, 2016

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4938706/

Conflicts of interest in neoliberal times: perspectives of Australian medical students

by Christopher Mayes, Ian Kerridge, Roojin Habibi, Wendy Lipworth

Published by Health Sociology Review

June 21, 2016

URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14461242.2016.1198713

Regulating information or allowing deception? Pharmaceutical sales visits in Canada, France and the United States

by Roojin Habibi, Line Guénette, Joel Lexchin, Ellen Reynolds, Mary Wiktorowicz, Barbara Mintzes

Published by Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics

December 20, 2016

URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1073110516684803?journalCode=lmec

Unwarranted claims of drug efficacy in pharmaceutical sales visits: Are drugs approved on the basis of surrogate outcomes promoted appropriately?

by Roojin Habibi, Joel Lexchin, Barbara Mintzes, Anne Holbrook

Published by British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology

August 19, 2017

URL: https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bcp.13360

Decoding disclosure: Comparing conflict of interest policy among the United States, France, and Australia

by Quinn Grundy, Roojin Habibi, Adrienne Shnier, Christopher Mayes, Wendy Lipworth

Published by Health Policy

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.03.015

Legal Barriers to Humanitarian Intervention in Natural Disasters

by Nicole Cvercko, Anna Jeffrey, Meghan Blom, Roojin Habibi

Published by Global Strategy Lab

May 1, 2018

URL: https://globalstrategylab.org/clinic/reports/legal-barriers-to-humanitarian-intervention-in-natural-disasters-2017.pdf?admin_panel=1

Legalizing Cannabis Violates the UN Drug Control Treaties, But Progressive Countries Like Canada Have Options

by Roojin Habibi, Steven J. Hoffman

Published by Ottawa Law Review

November 30, 2018

URL: https://rdo-olr.org/fr/2018/legalizing-cannabis-violates-the-un-drug-control-treaties-but-progressive-countries-like-canada-have-options/

Biography

Roojin Habibi is an international consultant, lawyer and research fellow specialized in global health law, governance and justice. She has worked as an advocate for the right to health of marginalized and left behind communities at the local and international level through civil society and intergovernmental organizations including the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the Canadian Medical Association, the Namibian Legal Assistance Centre and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Roojin’s research has been featured in, among others, the Lancet, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the Philippe Kirsch Institute Global Justice Journal, the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Health Policy, and the Ottawa Law Review. She teaches Medicines Policy, Economics and Ethics at the University of Sydney, and holds a law degree (J.D.) from the University of Ottawa, a specialization in transnational law from the University of Geneva, and a Master’s of Science in Global Health from McMaster University. She is pursuing her doctoral thesis on the sustainable and equitable governance of emerging and re-emerging pathogens with pandemic potential.

Roojin speaks English, French and Farsi fluently. On her spare time, she practices open water diving and museum hopping. Connect with her on twitter @roojinh.