Science, Technology, and Public Policy program

The Moral Divide: Parthasarathy investigates difference in U.S. and European patent systems

Dec 7, 2018

When it comes to the patent system, the U.S. and Europe are having very different conversations. As Professor Shobita Parthasarathy explains in her new book, Patent Politics, patents for biotechnology such as gene editing are approached from a...

Ford School hosts faculty roundtable with Sen. Peters on issues related to emerging technologies

Nov 2, 2018

Faculty from the Ford School and around the University joined an expert roundtable with Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) on Wednesday. Sen. Peters called on faculty to provide insight into some of the rapidly-moving emerging technologies that intersect...

U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) at a roundtable hosted by the Ford School and shown here with Shobita Parthasarathy and Bob Axelrod.

Shobita Parthasarathy calls for patent regulation in rapidly-advancing gene editing

Oct 26, 2018

Shobita Parthasarathy, professor of public policy at the Ford School, is keeping tabs on the upcoming International Summit on Human Gene Editing in Hong Kong. In her October 23, 2018 piece for Nature titled “Use the patent system to regulate gene...

Ford School's Molly Kleinman joins Ann Arbor Transportation Commission

Oct 19, 2018

Molly Kleinman, the Ford School’s Program Manager of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program, is the most recent addition to the 11-member Ann Arbor Transportation Commission (AATC). The diverse group of commision members advise the city...

Times of India publishes Q&A with newly-promoted Shobita Parthasarathy

Jul 3, 2018

The Times of India published a Q&A with Shobita Parthasarathy titled, "Indian-Americans need more role models in public policy, says Indian-origin professor at University of Michigan." The interview, written by Mandira Banerjee from Michigan...

Shobita Parthasarathy’s book wins Robert K. Merton Book Award

Jun 13, 2018

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy’s book, Patent Politics: Life Forms, Markets, and the Public Interest in the United States and Europe, has been awarded the prestigious Robert K. Merton Book Award. The award, given by the Science, Knowledge, and...

News

Michigan Alumnus profiles four Fordies in Detroit “Movers and Shakers” feature

Dec 14, 2017

In a recently published piece for Michigan Alumnus, the magazine of the University of Michigan Alumni Association, 20 Michigan graduates are recognized as Detroit “Movers and Shakers,” including four Ford School grads. Lisa Nuszkowski (MPP ’03)...

Nonprofit Quarterly highlights Parthasarathy in “Patents and profits in public settings”

Aug 10, 2017

This month’s Nonprofit Quarterly highlights Shobita Parthasarathy’s work in “Patents and profits in a public setting: Who should benefit financially?” The article quotes from Parthasarathy’s recent Conversation piece, “How to make sure we all...

The Conversation: Parthasarathy proposes patent policy for nonprofit, university leaders

Jul 19, 2017

In a July 19 piece for The Conversation, Shobita Parthasarathy encourages research universities and nonprofits to establish “intellectual property governance committees.” These committees--comprised of patent lawyers; ethicists; citizens; and...

State & Hill

Ford School faculty members share seven key strategies for effective collaboration

Apr 28, 2017

Ford School faculty members often engage in collective problem-solving--with other scholars, of course, but also with policymakers and practitioners all around the world. The goal of these collaborations? Finding better solutions, and mutually...

New "teach-outs" pay homage to U-M's game-changing, Vietnam-era "teach-ins"

Apr 21, 2017

On March 24th, 1965 at 8:00PM, about 3,500 faculty and students at the University of Michigan launched the first ever “teach in,” despite bomb threats and condemnation by the Michigan state legislature and Governor George Romney. For twelve hours,...

State & Hill

Fulfilling the public good: Shobita Parthasarathy on innovation in science and tech

Dec 20, 2016

It seems like a straightforward question. If we produce more innovation, and quickly, then society will benefit. Our economy will grow because there will be markets for new technologies, and citizens will also benefit from access to the technologies...

On Mindpop, Rohde pushes for us to "not lose sight of humans" in the big data revolution

Dec 6, 2016

David Sehat, host of the Mindpop podcast, talks with Joy Rohde about big data for the December 4 episode: “Is big data a force for good?” Rohde recounts the history of projects that use large datasets to try to solve policy problems – from the...

News

Science, Technology, and Public Policy program announces new director, welcomes applications

Sep 20, 2016

We are pleased to announce a new director of the University of Michigan's Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) graduate certificate program and to welcome applications from interested students. Associate Professor Shobita Parthasarathy,...

News

Catherine Hausman on methane leak repairs, "low-hanging fruit for climate change abatement"

May 25, 2016

Catherine Hausman’s NBER working paper, “Price regulation and environmental externalities: Evidence from methane leaks,” (with Lucija Muehlenbachs) looks at the unintended consequences of cost-of-service price regulations of privately-owned natural...

Michigan Radio features Parthasarathy on fostering grassroots innovation in Michigan

May 10, 2016

Shobita Parthasarathy’s research on grassroots innovation in India is featured on this week’s “The Next Idea,” a Michigan Radio series dedicated to game-changing innovations and ideas. Listen here.In “Fostering grassroots innovation: Lessons India...

Megan Blair (MPP '16) wins Innovation in Action competition for early learning social enterprise

Mar 14, 2016

On March 9, Megan Blair (MPP ’16) led team "Formativity" to a victory in the U-M School of Public Health’s annual Innovation in Action competition.Innovation in Action is a five-month competition that gives multidisciplinary teams an opportunity to...

Seven Ford School students honored with 2016 Dow Sustainability Fellowships

Feb 3, 2016

(left to right) Giorgi Tsimintia, Kenny Fennell, Diego Garcia Montufar, Maureen Lackner, Arman Golrokhian, Benjamin Morse, Harry WolbergLast month, seven accomplished Ford School students were awarded 2016 Dow Sustainability Fellowships, out of 39...

Parthasarathy receives IRWG funding to investigate gender, caste and innovation in India

Jan 20, 2016

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy has received a 2016 seed grant from Michigan's Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG), which supports individual research activities and collaborative projects in the field of women, gender, and...

News

Cezanne Charles, empowering designers and artists to strengthen communities

Nov 19, 2015

How does the creative sector contribute to economic and community development in Michigan? As the director of creative industries at Creative Many, Ford School alum Cézanne Charles (MPA ’15) makes the case using data. Charles leads the...

Rabe comments on new U.S. climate and security task force in VOA

Nov 12, 2015

In the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference in December, the U.S. will organize a task force to incorporate climate and security analysis into its foreign policy agenda. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the new group at a speech in...

News

Parthasarathy takes aim at 'out of step' patent system, calls for reforms

Jul 31, 2015

Shobita Parthasarathy has called for serious patent system reforms in a July 31 article she authored in The Conversation. Such reforms, she said, could "include increasing opportunities for the public to participate in patent decision-making,...

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy leads a discussion in the Betty Ford Classroom

Schwarz, Whitmer pen bipartisan op-ed, call on Michiganders to support new clean energy policy

Jun 17, 2015

Former U.S. Congressman Dr. Joe Schwarz (R-7) and former Michigan Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) pen MLive op-ed, “New energy plan for Michigan is opportunity to find common ground for cleaner water.” Together, Schwarz and...

Nepal earthquake relief with Andrew Schroeder (MPP '07) of Direct Relief International

May 7, 2015

Andrew Schroeder (MPP ’07) knows disaster relief. As director of research and analysis for Direct Relief International, Schroeder has helped shape responses to dozens of calamities. He recites the biggies. Haiti, Sandy, Nargis, Tohoku, Haiyan, and...

State & Hill

Energy and environmental policy impact stories, advancing sustainable food systems

May 6, 2015

Beehives in a Michigan cherry orchard Betsy Riley (MPP/SNRE ’14), 2013 Dow Sustainability Fellow Created a resource guide for farmers and beekeepers trying to cope with the negative effects of honey bee colony collapse disorder....

Mapping Ebola to combat its spread

Sep 3, 2014

On August 18, Dr. Dan Kelly published an op-ed in the San Francisco Gate. His friend and colleague, a medical doctor, had died in Sierra Leone after serving an Ebola patient without protective gear. It wasn’t negligence, wrote Kelly, an infectious...

Mapping Ebola to combat its spread image

Carl Simon talks Ebola and the power of quarantine

Aug 26, 2014

In an August 26 Policy Points video, Carl Simon argues that quarantine is the key to containing and eliminating the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus—the most deadly to date. “The first Ebola outbreak was noted about 40 years ago in small...

Carl Simon talks Ebola and the power of quarantine image

The storm after the superstorm: alumna lobbies for forward-thinking relief

Jan 30, 2013

When Superstorm Sandy struck the northeast coast last October, it struck with a vengeance. It cascaded over seawalls; knocked a roller coaster into the ocean; yanked out chunks of the Atlantic City boardwalk; felled trees and power lines; flooded...

Shobita Parthasarathy's book, Building Genetic Medicine, which informs the debate over gene patents, re-released in paperback

Feb 13, 2012

Shobita Parthasarathy's book on the development and implications of gene testing and patenting has been re-released in paperback by The MIT Press.The book, Building Genetic Medicine: Breast Cancer, Technology and the Comparative Politics of Health...

STPP Lecture Series

A Conversation with NYT Technology Reporter Kashmir Hill

Oct 7, 2024, 4:15-5:15 pm EDT

Annenberg Auditorium, Weill Hall

Please join us for an engaging conversation with New York Times technology reporter Kashmir Hill and Shobita Parthasarathy, Faculty Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) Program. Our speakers will explore the intersection of technology and privacy, addressing some of today's most salient issues.Following the talk, Kashmir Hill will be available for a book signing of "Your Face Belongs to Us: A Secretive Startup's Quest to End Privacy as We Know It".