Academic and Professional Background:

Dr. Christopher Blackwell attended the University of Central Florida (UCF), where he performed in the UCF Marching Knights and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Degree in May of 2000. His undergraduate clinical specialization was in emergency/trauma nursing and from 2000-2002, he practiced as a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Department of Florida Hospital Orlando while also working on his Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree, specializing as an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) in Adult Health.

He completed a residency in internal medicine and received his MSN in 2001. He then practiced for two years as an ARNP in Infectious Disease (ID) at Health Central Hospital, where he treated hospitalized patients with various communicable diseases and  also worked on staff in the practice's HIV outpatient ID clinic. In August of 2002, he returned to UCF to begin work on a Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D.) in Public Affairs. He chose Health as his major research concentration area and began conducting social science research related to health and social disparity issues for America's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) citizens and completed the Ph.D. in 2005.

Dr. Blackwell's research has been funded through the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, UCF's College of Health & Public Affairs, Merck Pharmaceuticals, the Evelyn McKnight Research Fund through the Florida Nurses Foundation, and the E21 Creative Studio Convergence Laboratory. He has been published in several prestigious international research journals including Issues in Mental Health Nursing, the American Journal for Nurse Practitioners, the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, the Journal of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health Research, the Journal of Health & Social Policy, the Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, the American Journal of Men's Health, the Journal of Transcultural Nursing, the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Youth, the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, and the Journal of Social Service Research.

His academic publications include a studyguide for a nationally-used textbook educating basic undergraduate nursing students (Introduction to Critical Care Nursing: 3rd Edition). He also authored chapters in the Comprehensive Handbook on Social Work and Social Welfare: Human Behavior in the Social Environment (2008), Service eLearning: Educating for Citizenship (2008), and The War Against Domestic Violence (2009). Dr. Blackwell serves as an editorial reviewer for the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Journal of Service Learning in Education, Journal of LGBT Health Research, the American Journal of College Health, Sexuality and Culture, AIDS Care, the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association,  the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, and the American Journal of Men's Health. Dr. Blackwell also presents his research at national and international professional conferences.

Dr. Blackwell is a member of several professional organizations including the Central Florida Advanced Practice Nursing Council, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, the Golden Key National Honor Society, and the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, for which he is an expert representative for the profession of Nursing through public relations, media, and press outlets. In addition, he is board-certified nationally through the American Nurses Credentialing Center as an Adult Health Nurse Practitioner and also has been approved as an item writer for the National Council Licensure Exam for the Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN®) and serves as a Content Expert Panelist for the American Nurses Credentialing Center Examination for Adult Health Nurse Practitioners.  He is also board-certified nationally as a Nurse Educator through the National League for Nursing. In June of 2006, Dr. Blackwell was named Outstanding New Nurse Researcher by the Florida Nurses Association.

His academic appointments include a brief professorship in the Nursing Program in the Department of Health Professions at Valencia Community College in Orlando during the 2003-2004 academic year, where he was awarded the Outstanding Professor Award, the youngest recipient in Valencia’s history. In 2010, Dr. Blackwell received the College of Nursing's Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award and was a College of Nursing Teaching Incentive Program Award Winner in 2011. Clinically, he continues to practice as an ARNP in Pulmonary and Critical Care at Health Central and South Lake Hospitals in Orlando. He resides in East Orlando and lives with his partner Ricardo and his beautiful, sweet, and loving Miniature Schnauzer Abby and Jack Russel Terrier Gabi.