Preface

When the Utah Law Review editors selected the topic for this symposium issue in early February 2020, we did not anticipate—nor would we have wished for—how exceptionally timely the topic would become over the next year-and-a-half. By the time we were extending invitations to participate in the fall 2020 symposium event, most teaching and learning at the law school, including the annual Lee E. Teitelbaum law review symposium, had moved online. As in so many aspects of life during the pandemic, our conversations turned to COVID-19. The extent and forms of regulation of medical research in the U.S. are sources of persistent controversy.

COVID-19 only added fuel to the fire, pressing urgent needs for information and innovation.