Michelle Blakely, PhD, MBA, MEd, NCC

Education 

2023    MBA   University of Wyoming
2011    PhD   Auburn University
2008    MEd   Auburn University
2005    BA     University of South Alabama

 

Bio

Dr. Blakely holds a Ph.D. in Social and Behavioral Sciences and an M.Ed. in Counseling from Auburn University. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with Psychology Departmental Honors from the University of South Alabama. Dr. Blakely is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and a Motivational Interviewing (MI) expert. She has extensive experience teaching MI to a variety of health care professionals including physicians, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, case managers, and counselors. Dr. Blakely is also an active scholar, having authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and an interdisciplinary book that combines the natural and social sciences to increase our understanding of human behavior.

Dr. Blakely was faculty at the University of Connecticut (UConn) in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, and Director of Disability Services at Truman State University before coming to the University of Wyoming. Her fields of specialization are social and behavioral sciences, communications, and patient health outcomes.

Dr. Blakely has delivered lectures at Yale-New Haven Hospital (Yale University), the Lincoln Medical Center (NYC), and Virginia Commonwealth University. She has delivered presentations to audiences at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Annual Meetings and Seminars and the American Pharmacists Association Annual Conferences. During her doctoral studies, Dr. Blakely received the WalMart/AACP Annual Conference Scholarship to encourage her commitment to higher education and healthcare disciplines. Since that time, she has served as an annual reviewer for this prestigious award. Dr. Blakely is also a former American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education (AFPE) Fellow and a lifetime member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

Research Synopsis
Dr. Michelle Blakely’s research focuses on advancing healthcare accessibility and equity, particularly for patients with disabilities and those facing communication barriers. Her community-based studies explore how assistive technologies, pharmacist engagement, and healthcare provider perspectives can improve outcomes for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or living with chronic conditions.

She has secured multiple internal and external grants supporting innovative projects on disability inclusion, social determinants of health, and medication adherence among older adults. Her work also extends to professional identity formation, empathy in healthcare, and gender equity within academic pharmacy.

Through national and international presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and collaborations across disciplines, Dr. Blakely contributes to evidence-based strategies that foster more inclusive healthcare environments and inform pharmacy education curricula nationwide.

Short Highlight

Dr. Michelle Blakely’s research advances health equity by focusing on patients with disabilities, communication barriers, and chronic conditions. She investigates how pharmacists and healthcare teams can use assistive technologies and inclusive strategies to improve outcomes. Her projects on disability inclusion, medication adherence, and social determinants of health are shaping more accessible care and strengthening pharmacy education across the U.S.

 

To view Dr. Blakely's Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND) faculty profile page, please click here.

 

Publons Profile
https://publons.com/author/1198328/dr-michelle-l-blakely#profile