Colleen M. Flood began her five-year term as Dean of the Faculty of Law on July 1, 2023. Dean Flood is recognized as one of Canada’s leading scholars in the area of health law and policy, and is an accomplished leader, author, and commentator.

She has made a significant impact on the policies and areas of research informing health services and care delivery sectors and public health, both in Canada and around the world. Her comparative research has been incorporated into national and global debates over privatization, health system design, accountability, and governance, pandemic preparedness and response and the role of courts in defending rights in health care. Her latest work focuses on the governance of health-related artificial intelligence.

A recognized thought leader, she has served as honorary member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, a Canada Research Chair, and a fellow at the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Massey College, and other prestigious research institutes.

Prior to joining Queen’s Law, Dean Flood was a professor in the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, where she also served as the University of Ottawa’s Research Chair in Health Law & Policy and was the founding director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics.

As director of the Centre, Dean Flood led a group of 40 core faculty members from multiple disciplines. Considered the largest of its kind in Canada, and one of the largest in the world, the centre enables collaboration and communication by bridging gaps between disciplines such as law, policy, health sciences, and medicine.

With a range of accomplishments and honours, Dean Flood was recently named a Justice Emmett Hall Laureate (2022), member of the Canadian Council of Academies Scientific Advisory Committee (2021), member of the Royal Society Taskforce on COVID-19 (2020), and a member of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons, Taskforce on AI (2020).

As a researcher, Dean Flood has built a reputation of pushing the traditional boundaries of health law to draw attention to law’s role in the broad relationship within health systems. She is also a recognized leader in public law, particularly the relationship between constitutional law and health care/health policy issues, and in administrative law.

Dean Flood holds both a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) and Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Honours and Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Recent Publications