The Center for Public Health Systems Critical Issues in Public Health Law Spring 2026 Colloquium

Thursday, March 12

4:00pm-6:00pm

Riverview Lounge, 10th floor

Allan Rosenfield Building, 722 West 168th Street

Register here

Join us for a timely exploration of public health leadership by state attorneys general. Our discussion will highlight the groundbreaking work of the Office of the New York Attorney General, including state-based efforts to secure essential federal funding and protect access to reproductive and gender-affirming care in New York and beyond.

Rabia Muqaddam leads the New York Attorney General’s federal accountability litigation,

which spans a broad array of issues, including the dismantling of the federal

government, threats to federal funding, intrusions on state sovereignty, and attacks on vulnerable state residents, including immigrant communities and LGBTQ+ individuals. Prior to joining the New York Office of the Attorney General, Rabia spent 7 years litigating abortion cases at the Center for Reproductive Rights. Rabia is a graduate of Cornell University and Cornell Law School and a born and raised New Yorker.

Galen Sherwin (she/her or they/them) is Special Counsel for Reproductive Justice in the office of New York Attorney General Letitia

James, where she coordinates the agency’s strategy to protect and expand reproductive health care access. Prior to joining the AG’s office, she was a Senior Staff Attorney at the Women’s Rights Project of the ACLU, where she conducted impact litigation focused on gender equality in education and employment. Other past positions include Project Director and Staff Attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Rights Project, Blackman Fellow at the Center for Reproductive Rights, and legislative aide for a New York State Senator. She has also served as the President of the New York City Chapter of the National Organization for Women and as a member of the national NOW board of directors.

Sherwin graduated from Yale University and Columbia Law School and clerked in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for the Honorable Gerard E. Lynch. She is a lifelong New Yorker, and lives in Brooklyn with her spouse, two kids, two cats, and a dog.

Moderator Magda Schaler-Haynes is Professor of Health Policy and Management at Mailman. Prior to joining the full-time faculty in 2022, Schaler-Haynes spent nearly two decades in senior health policy roles at state and federal levels, most recently as Senior Advisor at the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General where she served as a member of the COVID-19 response team and led initiatives focused on provider supply and licensure, reproductive health, health equity and nondiscrimination.  She holds J.D. and M.P.H. degrees from Columbia University.