Christopher Cabrera, a third-year student at the University of Houston Law Center, is making an impact and gaining awards with his insightful articles that explore the complex interplay between law, medicine and pharmaceutical advancements.
He recently won the American College of Legal Medicine's 2025 Hirsh Writing Competition with his article, "Conflict Preemption and the State of the Art." Inspired by the Bruesewitz v. Wyeth case, Cabrera's work delves into the true motivations of drug companies. He also secured second place in the Food and Drug Law Institute's 2024 H. Thomas Austern Writing Competition with his article, "GLP-1s and an Indication to Reconsider Loss Exclusion," which examines the broader benefits of GLP-1s and calls for needed regulatory changes.
Cabrera is no stranger to the health industry, having earned a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of North Texas System of College Pharmacy. Additionally, he served as a pharmacist in the U.S. Air Force for three years. During his time in the Air Force and pharmacy school, he came across access to care issues and wanted to understand the legal issues as they related to health care, which led him to law school.
He continues to let his curiosity and passion for patient care guide him as he pursues his Juris Doctor at UHLC and serves as head senior articles for the Houston Journal of Health Law and Policy.
Cabrera wants to use his knowledge to eventually influence policy and create meaningful change in the health care industry.
“I would like to stay involved in the pharmacy community and advocate for access to care,” he said.
Q & A with Christopher CabreraWhat led you to pursue a legal education at the UH Law Center? Also, what year are you?
CC: I am a 3L and one of the main reasons I chose to attend law school at UHLC was because of its health law program.How did you get interested in health issues?
CC: Prior to law school, I was a pharmacist in the Air Force. During pharmacy school and in the Air Force, I encountered access to care issues. My decision to attend law school was largely influenced by wanting to understand legal issues as they related to health care.How did UHLC help with your writing?
CC: I’ve had really excellent writing instruction here at UHLC and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to develop as a writer. Winning these competitions definitely gives me confidence in my writing abilities.Please share a bit about your writing process.
CC: I was fortunate to have these topics in mind before deciding to participate in the competitions. So, by the time I started researching and drafting, I already had a rough idea of the issues and arguments for each paper. After that, the hardest part is deciding what to leave out. For example, the final submission of my GLP-1paper had substantial cuts from earlier drafts. Although I always thought the focus of the paper would be access-to-care, early drafts of the paper were too broad in scope. As I did more research, I was able to pare down the paper to a set of subtopics that presented policies in tension.
This worked out very well because contrasting policies helped my transitions and gave the paper a nice back-and-forth structure.
What are your favorite memories of UHLC?CC:
One of my favorite memories at UHLC is getting to know everyone during my 1L year.What advice do you have for law students regarding competitions or law school?
CC: My advice for law students would be to find a balance between the topics that interest you the most and topics that you know less about.
Original source can be found here.