Magda Schaler-Haynes, JD, MPH

Magda Schaler-Haynes is Professor of Health Policy and Management and Professor of Population and Family Health at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Mailman School of Public Health. She offers the unique perspective of a former senior government official to her scholarship on state health policy, public health law, reproductive and maternal health, professional licensure and regulation of the healthcare workforce.

Professor Schaler-Haynes leads the public health law and civic engagement work at the Center on Public Health Systems. She is co-Project PI on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) initiative to increase implementation of public health law curricula as part of CDC’s initiative “Strengthening Public Health Systems and Services through National Partnerships to Improve and Protect the Nation’s Health.” She teaches courses on Public Health Law; Abortion Law and Policy; Health Policy Innovation; and Governance, Law and Ethics. Her current interests focus on public health and the rule of law including design of nonpartisan, evidence-based legislative and regulatory initiatives to improve health.

Prior to joining the fulltime faculty in 2022, Schaler-Haynes served in the administration of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, most recently as Senior Advisor at the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. There she served as a member of the COVID-19 emergency response team and directed health policy initiatives related to consumer protection, licensure and scopes of practice, maternal and reproductive health, and telehealth. She previously served as the Director of Policy and Strategic Planning at the New Jersey Department of Health where she oversaw multiple offices, councils and commissions including the Office of Health Information Technology and The Office of Vital Statistics and Registry. Earlier in her career, she held roles on the staff of a U.S. Senator as Special Advisor for healthcare and women's issues and as Senior Health Policy Advisor at the New York State Insurance Department where she managed health reform initiatives and was involved with the first phase of Affordable Care Act implementation including insurance exchange establishment. Schaler-Haynes has provided independent analysis and consulting services on legislative, regulatory and judicial strategy for matters ranging from price transparency, rate review and insurance benefit design to amicus management for the Center for Reproductive Rights. She served on the adjunct faculty at Columbia from 2008-2022. She began her career in 2001 as an associate in the Health Care Department at the Proskauer firm in New York.