A lawyer with a PhD in political Science, she previously litigated cases of medical malpractice and has worked as a legal advisor to national and international non-governmental organizations to promote health-related human rights. As a Permanent Representative for a nongovernmental organization at the United Nations she participated in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Since 2006, she’s been teaching at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. She was appointed a Visiting Research Fellow at Columbia University Law School (2012-2013) and a Research Fellow in Medical Ethics at Harvard Medical School (2011-2013).