Dr. Michelle Villegas-Gold is the Director of Research Strategy and lead for health and clinical research within the Office of the Vice President of Research at ASU Knowledge Enterprise, and a Health Solutions Ambassador with the College of Health Solutions. Prior to her current role, Michelle was a University Innovation Fellow with the Office of the President at ASU, where she developed and incubated new university-wide initiatives that advance ASU's charter and design aspirations. Additionally, from 2015-2018 while pursuing her Ph.D., Michelle served as the Center-wide Research Assistant for the Center for the Future of Arizona, within the Office of the President Emeritus at ASU. Before joining ASU, Michelle worked as a masters' level counselor in several inpatient, intensive outpatient, and outpatient settings with children, adolescents, and adults. Michelle specializes in trauma- and stress-related, feeding and eating, anxiety, dissociative, and substance-related and addictive disorders, with specific expertise in the neurobiology of trauma, fear, and safety.
Michelle is also a Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher, who facilitates a free trauma-informed yoga group she developed specifically for victims and survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence at Trauma Healing Services with La Frontera/EMPACT-SPC, sponsored by an ongoing grant from the Victims of Crime Act (VoCA).
Michelle has a Ph.D. in Global Health from Arizona State University with a certificate in Women and Gender Studies, a Master of Public Health within the Global Health and Leadership track from New York University, and a Master of Counseling degree from Arizona State University. Michelle completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Arizona where she majored in Psychology and minored in French.