Valarie Blake

Professor Valarie Blake is a distinguished faculty member at West Virginia University College of Law, where she focuses on health law and policy with particular expertise in the opioid crisis and healthcare reform. Her scholarship critically examines the intersection of law, public health, and policy implementation.

Professor Blake's research interests center on health law, with special emphasis on opioid crisis policy, healthcare reform, and the Affordable Care Act's impact on substance use disorder treatment. Her work explores how legal frameworks can improve healthcare access and address systemic inequities, particularly for vulnerable populations affected by the opioid epidemic.

Her scholarly output demonstrates a consistent focus on healthcare access barriers and policy solutions. Professor Blake has published in leading venues including the Journal of Law in Society, California Law Review Online, and The Milbank Quarterly, with her 2021 article The Opioid Crisis: Lessons for Health Reform receiving significant attention. Her research trajectory reveals increasing engagement with constitutional dimensions of health policy and healthcare access rights.

Professor Blake has been an active participant in scholarly discourse, presenting at numerous symposia including events at Yale, Harvard, American University, and Creighton Law Schools. Her presentations consistently address pressing issues in health law, particularly focusing on inequities in healthcare and policy responses to the opioid crisis.

She has contributed to the U.S. Feminist Judgments Project by rewriting Doe v. Mutual of Omaha and has shared her expertise through contributions to The Conversation and Harvard Law's Bill of Health blog. Her work bridges academic scholarship with practical policy implications, demonstrating a commitment to translating legal analysis into meaningful healthcare improvements.