Bio
Nicole Foster is a Law Lecturer, General Editor of the Faculty’s flagship publication, the Caribbean Law Review, and founding Head of the Faculty’s Law and Health Research Unit. Mrs Foster is also a former diplomat who acted as Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of Barbados to the UN and the WTO in Geneva from 1999 to 2005. She was also the NCDs and Mental Health Advisor with PAHO’s Subregional Coordination Programme from July – September 2018.
Within the Cave Hill Law Faculty, Mrs Foster is responsible for teaching and research in the areas of global health law, public international law, international human rights and international trade law. She was Deputy Dean for Academic and Student Affairs from 2020 -2022 and Interim Dean from August - September 2020.
Besides her substantive UWI posts, Mrs. Foster is Policy Advisor with Healthy Caribbean Coalition and serves on several national and regional boards and committees such as Barbados’ NCD Commission.
Qualifications
Postgraduate Certificate in University Teaching and Learning, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, 2015
LLM, Washington College of Law, American University, 1997
LLM, Cambridge University, 1996
Legal Education Certificate, Hugh Wooding Law School, 1994
LLB, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, 1992
Research Areas
My current research is focussed on the intersection of health, international trade and international human rights law with particular emphasis on NCD prevention and control in the English-speaking Caribbean. I am also interested in the linkages between global health, international human rights and climate change within SIDS and the global health security agenda, particularly the legal preparedness action package.
Teaching Areas
Global Health Law
Public International Law
International Human Rights
International Trade Law
Select Publications
Aura Guerrero & Nicole D Foster, ‘Core State Obligations under the Inter-American Human Rights System concerning Unhealthy Diets: An Opportunity to Advance NCD Prevention in the English-Speaking Caribbean?’ (2024) 20 Carib LR 35
Lake SJ, Benjamin KE and Foster ND, “Public Health Protection vs. Freedom of Commercial Expression in the Commonwealth Caribbean: The Case of Barbados and Jamaica” (2022) 50 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 304
Foster ND, Constantin A and Lake SJ, “CARICOM’S Efforts to Tackle Unhealthy Diets: A Cautionary Tale for Latin America” (2022) 8 Journal of Institutional Studies 254 https://doi.org/10.21783/rei.v8i2.663
N Foster, ‘International Trade and Childhood Obesity – A Caribbean Perspective’ in Amandine Garde, Olivier de Schutter & Joshua Curtis (eds) Ending Childhood Obesity: A Challenge at the Crossroads of International Economic and Human Rights Law. December 2020. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Nicole D Foster, Ann-Marie Thow, Nigel Unwin et al, ‘Fiscal, Legal and Regulatory Measures to Fight Obesity in Small Island Developing States of the Caribbean and Pacific 2015 – 2017. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2018;42:e191. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2018.191 (December 18, 2018)
Additional Info
I am one of the contributors to WHO’s first Global Report on the Commercial Determinants of Health and I am also assisting with work on model CARICOM immunization legislation. I am also actively engaged in public health advocacy at the national and regional level.
Keywords
global health law, noncommunicable diseases, food policy, human rights, global health security agenda, WTO, climate change.