Jessica Mantel, J.D., M.P.P., is a Professor at the University of Houston Law Center and serves as co-director of the Health Law & Policy Institute. She also holds a joint appointment with the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine and works with the University of Houston HEALTH Research Institute. Her work focuses on the legal, regulatory, and policy forces shaping the U.S. health care system, including how payment models, delivery system reforms, and organizational structures affect patient care, provider decision-making, and equitable access to health services.

In her role as co-director of the Health Law & Policy Institute, Mantel collaborates with faculty, students, and community partners to advance research, education, and policy initiatives that strengthen health systems and address population health needs. She develops curricular offerings in health law and policy, teaches courses including The U.S. Health System, Health Transactions, and the Health Regulatory State, and mentors law and medical students engaging in interdisciplinary and community-focused work.

Her scholarship examines allocation of limited health care resources, integrated care models, medical-legal partnerships, patient referral systems, and delivery system reform. She is widely published in leading health law journals and frequently presents her research at national and international conferences. Her work has been supported by grants from the University of Houston and the Texas Department of State Health Services, and she serves on advisory committees for initiatives addressing cancer prevention, addiction, population health and interdisciplinary health equity.

Before joining the Law Center faculty, Mantel spent eight years in federal service in Washington, D.C. She worked as a senior attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, advising the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Medicare payment policy, prescription drug benefit implementation, electronic health record incentives, and health reform. She also served as a health policy analyst at the Government Accountability Office, evaluating Medicare payment issues. Earlier in her career, she practiced in the Health Care Department of Ropes & Gray in Boston and clerked for the Honorable Karen Nelson Moore of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

She earned a J.D. and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan, where she graduated magna cum laude and was elected to the Order of the Coif. She also served as a contributing editor for the Michigan Law Review. Mantel received her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, graduating summa cum laude as a Benjamin Franklin Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.