Twelfth 2016 Public Service Fellow Cristina Cahn-Speyer (’16) to Work for CARB-X
The Class of 2016 graduate will complete her fellowship with the new public health initiative headquartered at BU Law.
Every year, BU Law awards members of the graduating class with prestigious Public Service Fellowships, which fund the work of graduates entering positions in a variety of public-service-related fields. This year, after receiving a $350 million federal grant for his initiative to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria—called CARB-X—Kevin Outterson, Neal N. Pike Scholar of Health and Disability Law, professor of law, and executive director of CARB-X, used a portion of the funds to create an additional Public Service Fellowship. The recipient of this fellowship, Cristina Cahn-Speyer (’16), will work alongside Outterson as associate counsel with CARB-X.
An International Business major as an undergraduate at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, Cahn-Speyer always knew she wanted to go to law school. An internship at Cacheaux Cavazos & Newton, a Mexican law firm specializing in international business law, cemented the desire in her mind. “I’ve always been interested in the ways businesses work behind the scenes,” she says. Business law seemed the obvious route.
But once at BU Law, Cahn-Speyer discovered a new focus: compliance. Because her upbringing instilled in her an appreciation for following rules and avoiding wrongdoing, compliance was a good fit. While compliance “works in the grey areas occasionally,” she likes that “compliance is preventative—it gets to the problem before it happens,” she says.
Aside from compliance, Cahn-Speyer discovered many new areas of interest through externships and internships at BU Law. The summer after her first year of law school, Cahn-Speyer interned with the Disability Litigation & Benefits Advocacy Unit at the Legal Service Center at Harvard Law School, where she was introduced to the ins and outs of health law. Her most recent internship with the Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office gave her a view of the opposite side of compliance. “I got to see how the government operates,” Cahn-Speyer says, “and I appreciated how the unit helps emphasize the difference between right and wrong, which is a big priority to me.”
Coursework and extra-curriculars shaped Cahn-Speyer’s post-graduate career path as much as relevant internships did. Health law classes piqued her interest in the field, and she served as editor of the American Journal of Law & Medicine at BU Law. Equally influential was a Corporations class with Professor Outterson, who also served as an advisor to Cahn-Speyer.
It was Outterson who recognized her potential, and selected her to receive the fellowship. The position with Outterson’s CARB-X initiative was a perfect fit for Cahn-Speyer, combining some of her favorite fields. “It involves a little contracting and a little compliance work and health law, but I also learn a lot,” she says.
At the end of August, Cahn-Speyer began working with CARB-X, a new organization directed by Professor Outterson to support an international team working to accelerate the development of new antibiotics. She has spent the first few weeks drafting confidentiality agreements and sorting through applications to send to reviewers, but will soon begin working on contracting and compliance issues with the organizations that CARB-X will fund.
Already, Cahn-Speyer has gained hands-on experience in creating a start-up, and has taken advantage of networking opportunities with partner organizations in the US and UK. She has also gotten an introduction to the biotech industry, which she hopes to enter after her fellowship concludes.
“What we’re doing at CARB-X is trying to prevent antibacterial resistance from becoming a bigger problem than it already is,” she says. “It’s important to me that my work is meaningful, and it’s rewarding to know that the work I’m doing is going to make a difference.”
Cahn-Speyer appreciates both the Public Service Fellowship program, and the opportunity to work with Professor Outterson. “I’m really grateful,” she says. “The BU Law faculty truly show an interest in the futures and careers of their students.”
>>Read about BU Law’s other 2016 Public Service Fellows
Reported by Johanna Gruber (CAS’16).