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Susan Sell
Professor Susan Sell

Susan K. Sell is a RegNet Professor. She earned her PhD in Political Science at the University of California – Berkeley. She taught at Pomona College and the Claremont Graduate School before joining the George Washington University. There, she was a Professor of Political Science and International Affairs. She served as Director of the Institute for Global and International Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington from 2007-2012.
She has published a number of books, including Private Power, Public Law: the Globalization of Intellectual Property Rights; this was translated into and published in Chinese in 2007 and in Korean in 2009. With Deborah Avant and Martha Finnemore she co-edited Who Governs the Globe? (Cambridge University Press, 2010). With Owain Williams she co-edited a special issue of Review of International Political Economy on the Global Political Economy of Health.
She has published numerous articles and book chapters and serves on the editorial boards of the Review of International Political Economy; the European Journal of International Relations, and Global Governance.
She serves on the Board of Geneva-based IP-Watch, a reporting service targeted at under-resourced negotiating delegations. Professor Sell has been a consultant for the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Institute, and the World Health Organization. In 2015-2016 she was appointed to the Expert Advisory Group for the United Nations Secretary General’s High-level Panel on Public Health and Access to Medicines.
Research interests
- International political economy
- Trade
- Economic development
- Intellectual property
- Investment
She focuses on the politics of intellectual property, trade, investment and private power.

Susan Sell on ABC Radio: Calls intensify for Australia to produce mRNA vaccines
In an interview with Rachel Mealey on The World Today, ANU RegNet’s Susan Sell urges Australia to join the international calls for pharmaceutical giants to waive their

Australia could become voice for global vaccine equality
An expert from The Australian National University (ANU) is urging Australia to support international calls at the World Trade Organization for pharmaceutical giants to not

New research - 21st century capitalism and innovation for health
Susan Sell’s latest article ’21st Century Capitalism and Innovation for Health’ has been published in Global Policy.

Susan Sell on Cooperadio: Patents, profits & pandemics
Catch RegNet’s Susan Sell on the latest episode of Cooperadio, the Global Cooperation Podcast.
About the episode

How patent laws are hindering the fight against COVID-19 - Professor Susan Sell referenced in new article
Professor Susan Sell’s key research is cited in the new article in Salon.

RegNet's Prof Susan Sell speaks at the TRIPS@25 – Virtual Symposium: Celebrating 25 years of the TRIPS Agreement
On 24 November the WTO Secretariat organized a virtual symposium to mark the 25th anniversary of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (

Embarking on a Booksprint
In an academic climate that emphasises inter-disciplinarity, impact and engagement, one of the more urgent questions facing academics is: how do you bring an interdisciplinary focus to bear on

Intellectual Property Barriers to Sustainable Development
Intellectual Property (IP) in Australia is defined as ‘the property of your m

Congratulations to RegNet grant winners
RegNet was delighted to secure a number of grants in the recent round of awards from the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Author(s): Sell, Susan
Date of publications: 2021
Publication type: Journal article

Author(s): Sell, Susan
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Journal article

Author(s): Susan Sell
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Journal article

Author(s): Susan K. Sell & Owain D. Williams
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Journal article

Author(s): Suan K. Sell
Date of publications: 2019
Publication type: Book chapter

Author(s): Suan K. Sell
Date of publications: 2018
Publication type: Opinion piece

Author(s): Suan K. Sell
Date of publications: 2018
Publication type: Book chapter

Author(s): Suan K. Sell, Emma Aisbett, James Harrison, Barnali Choudhury, Song Hong, Olivier De Schutter, Lise Johnson, Frank Garcia, Mouhamadou Kane, Stephen E. Shay, Santiago Peña, Matthew Porterfield, Louis T. Wells
Date of publications: 2018
Publication type: Book