Who is Greg Fosheim from Jeopardy? How a CDC Scientist Became a Leading Healthcare Lawyer
Greg Fosheim’s contestant description on Jeopardy! is healthcare attorney, but his path into law started behind a laboratory bench.
The Milbank, South Dakota native spent roughly a decade as a microbiologist with the CDC before completing law school and beginning a second career.
Today, the two halves of that résumé intersect in his work advising some of the same kinds of laboratories and healthcare organizations he once encountered from a scientific perspective.
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An Expert in MRSA and Public-Health Laboratories
At the CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Fosheim developed specialist knowledge of MRSA.
His work involved molecular epidemiology and strain characterization, areas that help scientists determine relationships between bacterial samples and understand how infections spread.
He also trained and advised hospital and public-health laboratories and participated in outbreak responses.
That gave Fosheim firsthand knowledge of the operational and regulatory challenges facing laboratories—experience that would later prove valuable in law.
Returning to School for a Law Degree
Fosheim’s educational path began with a bachelor’s degree from Luther College and an MPH from Emory.
After his CDC career, he entered Georgia State University’s College of Law and graduated magna cum laude in 2014.
He immersed himself in health law while also participating in moot court and student legal organizations. His achievements included election as President of the Student Health Law Association and Vice President of the Moot Court Board.
Combining Law and Laboratory Science
Fosheim’s legal specialty allows him to use both sides of his training.
He advises clinical and diagnostic laboratories on matters including CLIA compliance, accreditation, licensing, molecular diagnostics, pathology and fertility-laboratory requirements.
His broader healthcare practice includes transactions, FDA issues, digital health, cybersecurity, privacy, finance and emergency preparedness.
He has also written extensively about healthcare nondiscrimination law, including Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
A Recognized Healthcare Lawyer
After earlier work at BakerHostetler, Fosheim spent roughly seven years at McDermott Will & Emery/McDermott Will & Schulte and became a partner.
In March 2026, he joined McGuireWoods as a partner in its Healthcare and Life Sciences practice.
His professional recognition includes appearances in The Best Lawyers in America, The Legal 500 US and Super Lawyers.
His Jeopardy! appearance adds another chapter to a career that has already crossed science, public health, law, policy and education.
