School of Law Adds Nicole Tuchinda to the Center for Health Law Studies Faculty
Saint Louis University School of Law is pleased to announce the appointment of child health justice advocate, Nicole Tuchinda, J.D., M.D., LL.M. to the faculty beginning in July 2026. Dr. Tuchinda’s arrival will enhance the breadth and depth of the medical expertise and scholarship in the nationally recognized Center for Health Law Studies.
Tuchinda joins the faculty from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she served as the Robert J. David Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Health Law Program. Her scholarship focuses on preventing and healing childhood trauma, nonmedical drivers of health, education and disability law, and health justice, including racial justice.
Prior to her appointment at Loyola, she was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and the director of the Juvenile and Special Education Law Clinic at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC). At UDC, she supervised law students in special education and school discipline cases and systems change projects aimed at ending the school-to-system pipeline, addressing childhood trauma, and improving racial justice. She also began her academic career at Georgetown Law, where she was a founding Clinical Teaching Fellow at the Health Justice Alliance, a medical-legal partnership.
“Nicole’s medical training and expertise in child health justice bring an important and timely perspective to our work,” said Professor Kelly Gillespie, director of the Center for Health Law Studies. “As someone with a background in healthcare, I’ve seen how critical it is to understand both clinical and legal dimensions of care, especially for children and families navigating complex legal systems. Alongside our other faculty with medical expertise, Nicole strengthens our ability to advance scholarship and policy that better support our community’s health and well-being.”
Tuchinda has taught Torts, Introduction to Health Law, Disability and the Law, Children and the Law, and health law seminars. Before joining academia, she was an associate at Ropes & Gray LLP for four years, clerked for Judge Thomas Zilly of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, and served as assistant chief counsel at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"I could not be more honored and thrilled to be joining the faculty of Saint Louis University's Center for Health Law Studies,” said Tuchinda. “I am humbled to be teaching with some of the most innovative leaders in health law, and I am excited to contribute to SLU's outstanding work to support the nation's health law community. I am grateful to be able to continue my interdisciplinary research in nonmedical drivers of health and health justice, including the ways in which law can cause childhood trauma, at an R1 institution with a strong medical school and Jesuit values.”
Tuchinda holds a B.A. in psychology from Yale University, an M.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, a J.D. from George Washington University Law School, an LL.M. in clinical education, social justice and systems change from University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, and an LL.M. in advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center.
“Nicole’s addition to the faculty reflects our commitment to expanding our reach, strengthening our expertise, and staying at the forefront of health law and policy,” said Twinette Johnson, Ph.D., dean of Saint Louis University School of Law. “Her medical training, clinical experience, and focus on pediatric health justice bring an important perspective to our teaching and scholarship, and we are proud to welcome her to our community.”