Camila Strassle is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at UCLA. She earned her JD from Stanford Law School, where she was a Knight-Hennessy Scholar and a senior editor of the law review. During law school, Camila interned twice at the California Department of Justice (DOJ), specializing in health-related litigation and supporting DOJ attorneys representing local health agencies and the state medical board. Before law school, she received her BA in Human Biology from Stanford University, where her undergraduate thesis won the Lyle and Olive Cook Prize.
From March 2024 to May 2025, Camila served as an assistant chief counsel at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), advising the agency on regulatory issues related to prescription drugs. She has held research positions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Department of Bioethics and the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, with earlier experience in patient advocacy through the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Research
Camila’s research bridges sociology, law, and bioethics to better understand the institutions that shape public health. She studies how different actors—such as federal agencies, state medical boards, professional societies, nonprofit disease organizations, health insurers, malpractice attorneys, and patient advocates—influence the development, use, affordability, and perception of medical treatments.
Her work has appeared in numerous journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, San Diego Law Review, William & Mary Law Review, and Bioethics. In 2026, one of her articles was featured on the cover of Psychiatric Times.
Camila is currently part of a research team analyzing the history of reforms to the FDA to identify major themes across policy changes since 1962.
Publications
Teaching
Teaching interests: FDA Law; Health Law; Disability Law; Administrative Law; Legislation and Regulation; Torts; Intellectual Property.
Teaching experience: FDA Law (curriculum developer for Holly Fernandez Lynch); Disability Law (TA for Rabia Belt); Ethics in Bioengineering (TA for David Magnus).
Contact
Email: camila.strassle@gmail.com