dr. S.D. (Dominique) Mollet
About
Dr. Dominique Mollet currently works as a post-doctoral researcher and lecturer at the Faculty of Law. Her research interests are primarily centred on law as a structural determinant of health. She specialised in the role of law in preventing non-communicable diseases. In this context she conducts post-doctoral research under the Premier-CVD project, funded by the Hartstichting (Dutch Heart Foundation), in which she focuses on the role of law in addressing the commercial determinants of health, particularly in the context of law and policies addressing food environments.
In 2021, Dr. Mollet graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen, with an LLM in European Economic Law (cum laude) and an LLM in Public International Law. She holds a BA in International Relations and International Organizations. During her BA, she studied abroad to improve her knowledge on public health at the National Taiwan University (2017-2018).
Research interests and expertise
Dr. Mollet completed her PhD research in 2026, when she defended her PhD dissertation ‘Exploring the Role of Law in Preventing NCDs: Chapters on Child Oral Health and Food Environments’. The PhD project was part of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership programme, the reason for which she worked at the Joint Research Centre (Ispra, Italy) from 2022 to 2024. Her PhD dissertation involved an interdisciplinary collaboration involving legal expertise and expertise from the areas of dentistry and public health (nutrition sciences). Her PhD research therefore did not only provide her with interdisciplinary research experience, but within the discipline of law, her PhD research transcended the boundaries of legal orders, as well as areas of law. This provides her with a broad perspective on public health and law, grounded in strong legal and analytical skills.
Besides conducting doctoral research, she undertook various other academic activities. She presented at international conferences, workshops, and other academic events, including the Summer School Promoting Sustainable Health Systems in Africa (January 2025, Arusha, Tanzania), the European Association for Public Health Conference (November 2024, Lisbon, Portugal), the Health Law Professors Conference at Temple University (June 2024, Philadelphia, US), and a World Health Organization workshop on law and tobacco control (December 2023, Oslo, Norway). She participated in multiple research projects, including an interdisciplinary collaboration with the University of Hamburg and the Green Office of the University of Groningen on local smoke- and aerosol free policies in the North of the Netherlands and Germany.
Dr. Mollet's research interests are particularly within the realm of public health (and) law, but also extend to broader questions of law, including the areas of human rights law and EU law, and public health. She has ample interdisciplinary and international academic experience. She has been involved with the Groningen Centre for Health Law since her LLM studies in 2019.
Engaging with practice and social impact
In her academic work, Dr. Mollet seeks for societal engagement. She contributed to policy-related developments in the context of tobacco and related products, including for the Dutch Parliament (report on the permissibility and effectiveness of innovative domestic measures to address the price of tobacco and related products, as the lead author of an interdisciplinary team). She furthermore contributed to the fourth evaluation of the Dutch Act on Medical Research Involving Human Subjects and the Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects.
Dr. Mollet is a member of European Public Health Association.