Isabel is Professor of Public Law and International Economic Law at the University of Würzburg. Her research interests cover the distributive effects of law, the democratization of society, and the law of the commons and commoning. She explores how institutional experiments, e.g., the redesign of money or Commons Public Partnerships, can support social-ecological transformation through democratization and commoning. Her monograph The Law and Politics of WTO Waivers: Stability and Flexibility in Public International Law, published in 2011 by Cambridge University Press, gained renewed relevance with regard to recent demands for a TRIPS Waiver to facilitate the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. She recently co-edited two volumes published in 2023; one on German (post-)colonial law and the other on legal constitutions of value. Isabel founded the Law Clinic Transformation Law at Würzburg University.

Isabel joined THE NEW INSTITUTE in the Academic Year 2023/24 as the Chair in the program Reclaiming Common Wealth.