Human Rights Program Faculty & Leadership

Leadership

Core Faculty

Core faculty with human rights expertise include the Human Rights Program’s leadership and the faculty members below:

Affiliated Faculty & Staff

Additionally, the Human Rights Program includes the following Miami Law faculty who teach, research, or work in the area of human rights:

• David Abraham: Professor of Law Emeritus
• Nikita Aggarwal: Associate Professor of Law 
• Jessica Baptiste: Senior Manager, Programs, Human Rights Clinic & Program
• Farah Barquero: Director, Law Reviews & Moot Court Programs
• Sara Baez: Associate Director, HOPE Public Interest Resource Center
• Sharon Booth: Associate Director, HOPE Public Interest Resource Center
• Dalgys Estrabao: Senior Manager / Paralegal, Immigration Clinic
• Caroline Bradley: Professor of Law
• Donna K. Coker: Professor of Law
• Caroline Mala Corbin: Professor of Law
• R. Valerie Fajardo: Climate Change & Environmental Law Fellow; Lecturer in Law
• Sandra Friedrich: Assistant Dean, International Graduate Law Programs; Director, International Arbitration; Lecturer in Law
• Abigail Fleming: Associate Director, Environmental Justice Clinic; Associate Professor of Prof. Practice
• Andrea Jacoski: Associate Director, Immigration Clinic; Lecturer in Law
• Thomas Kadri: Professor of Law
• Robert Latham: Associate Director, Children and Youth Law Clinic; Associate Professor of Prof. Practice
• Marni Lennon: Assistant Dean, Public Interest and Pro Bono; Director, HOPE Public Interest Resource Center; Lecturer in Law
• JoNel Newman: Professor of Law; Director, Health Rights Clinic
• James W. Nickel: Professor of Law and Philosophy Emeritus
• Bernard Oxman: Professor of Law Emeritus
• Jessica Owley: Professor of Law; Faculty Director, Environmental Law Program.
• Bernard P. Perlmutter: Professor of Law; Co-Director, Children & Youth Law Clinic
• Madeleine Plasencia: Visiting Professor of Law/Scholar
• Ileana Porras: Senior Lecturer
• Doug Ruley: Director, Environmental Justice Clinic; Associate Professor of Clinical Education
• Robin Schard: Librarian Professor; Director, Law Library
• Gabriel Scheffler: Professor of Law
• Rebecca Sharpless: Professor of Law; Director, Immigration Clinic
• Kele Stewart: Professor of Law; Co-Director, Children and Youth Law Clinic
• Melissa Swain: Associate Director, Health Rights Clinic; Lecturer in Law
• Craig Trocino: Associate Professor of Clinical Education; Director, Innocence Clinic

Visiting Scholars

HRP is further pleased to host the following visiting research scholars:

• Denisse Córdova Montes is a Visiting Research Scholar with the Human Rights Program. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Legal Studies Department at the University of Central Florida (2024-present). Previously, she served as faculty with the University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic (2019–2024), where she taught and supervised students in human rights litigation.
• Rosemarie Hidalgo is a Visiting Senior Researcher Scholar with the Human Rights Program. Before joining UM, Ms. Hidalgo served as the Director of the Office on Violence Against Women at the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to that she served as a special assistant to former President Joe Biden, and senior advisor on gender-based violence at the White House Gender Policy Council.
• Oscar Londoño is a Visiting Research Scholar with the Human Rights Program. Oscar is the Co-Executive Director of WeCount!, a non-profit organization that advocates for the labor and human rights of immigrant workers and families in South Florida. Previously, Oscar was a Skadden Fellow at the Community Justice Project and a Staff Attorney at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON). He received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden-Kern Public Interest Scholar, and his B.A. in Sociology from Cornell University
• Shantanice Vaxter is a Senior Human Rights Fellow with the Human Rights Program. She was previously a Fellow and Intern with the Human Rights Clinic. She received her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law and received her LL.M. in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from American University.

Past Visiting Scholars

• Javier García Amez joined the Human Rights Program as a Visiting Research
  Scholar for Spring '22.
• Rosario Concha joined the Human Rights Program as a Research Associate
  from Fall ’24 – Spring ’26.
• Christina M. Fetterhoff joined the Human Rights Clinic as a Visiting Fellow for
  Spring '22.
• Valencia "Vee" Gunder joined the Human Rights Program as a Visiting Research Scholar from Fall '23 – Spring '24.