Shelly Weizman, JD is a human rights lawyer whose areas of interest include advancing public policy related to addiction, mental health, and disabilities. She currently serves as the Project Director of the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center. Her work, research and scholarship centers on the overdose epidemic and how the law can promote access to addiction treatment and support recovery.
She is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law and in Georgetown’s Master of Science in Addiction Policy and Practice, where she introduced and teaches a course on Addiction and Mental Health Law and Policy. Ms. Weizman previously served as the Assistant Secretary for Mental Hygiene in the Office of the Governor of New York where she oversaw policy and operations related to addiction, mental health and disabilities. She also served as the Policy Director for Managed Care in the New York State Office of Mental Health where she implemented reforms to New York’s public mental health system. Ms. Weizman began her legal career as a civil rights attorney at MFY Legal Services, a not-for-profit legal services organization in New York City. Ms. Weizman is the recipient of the 2022 Boston Congress for Public Health’s 40 Under 40 Public Health Catalyst Award, the 2021 Mary L. Fleming Memorial Mentor of the Year Award from the Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic (SAFE) Project, and the 2019 Distinguished Public Service Award from the New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation.