Grace W. Orsatti

Professor Grace Wankiiri Orsatti teaches estate and trusts, bioethics, and the law of healthcare decisions. Her scholarly interests, at the intersection of health law, aging, and bioethics, center on advancing justice through interprofessional and experiential learning initiatives. Her research examines legal and bioethical aspects of end-of-life planning, aging, and health. 

Her scholarship focuses on bioethics, health law, and estate, incapacity, and end-of-life planning. She has published articles in the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, the Northeastern Law Review, and the Journal of Innovation in Health Sciences Education.

Orsatti serves on the American Bar Association Law and Aging Commission. She previously served on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Advisory Council on Elder Justice in the Court and the Pennsylvania Bar Association Elder Law Section Council.

Before joining the College of Law faculty, Orsatti served as an Assistant Clinical Professor and Externship and Pro Bono Director at Duquesne Kline Law School. 

Prior to her academic positions, she practiced law in the private sector and clerked for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Superior Court, and trial courts.

Orsatti received a B.S. from Duquesne University, an M.Sc in Bioethics from Harvard Medical School, and a J.D. from the Duquesne Kline School of Law.   

Orsatti spent her childhood in Southern and East Africa.