ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ

Dr. Debbie Kelly

Professor and Special Advisor, Practice Innovation
Director, Medication Therapy Services (MTS) Clinic
Cross-appointment, Faculty of Medicine
Joint-appointment, Eastern Health (Provincial HIV program)

Dr. Kelly is wearing a claret coloured top and is standing in front of windows in the medical school atrium.

Dr. Kelly received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ University in 1996, completed a hospital pharmacy residency in 1997 from the Queen Elizabeth II Health Science Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Toronto in 1999. In 2012, Dr. Kelly was named a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP), and in 2025, she received the Canadian Pharmacist of the Year award from the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

Dr. Kelly is the Special Advisor on Practice Innovation and led the establishment of the province’s first pharmacist clinic, the Medication Therapy Services (MTS) Clinic in 2016, for which she currently serves as Director. She has led research looking at optimizing medication use and deprescribing, which are the areas of expertise through the MTS Clinic.

Dr. Kelly is also the Clinical Pharmacotherapy Specialist to the provincial HIV program. In addition to providing care to people with and at risk for HIV, she leads a research program looking at pharmacist-led models of care for sexual health and bloodborne infections, which is supported by research grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Research Areas of Interest 
  • Pharmacist-led models of care for sexual health (STBBI testing, HIV PrEP and treatment)
  • Point-of-care and dried bloodspot testing
  • Appropriate medication use and deprescribing
  • Community-based research and implementation science
Teaching Areas of Interest
  • Viral infectious diseases including HIV and viral hepatitis
  • Sexually transmitted infections
  • EDI and inclusive healthcare practices
Current/Recent Projects
  1. ACCESS-Rx- Improving sexual health for Canadians through a pharmacy-based sexual-health-services model (funded by CIHR-THINC grant)

  2. APPROACH 2.0: Pharmacist testing for HIV, Hepatitis C and Syphilis (funded by CIHR): approachstudy.ca

  3. CTN+: CIHR Pan-Canadian Network for HIV and STBBI Clinical Trials Research (funded by CIHR):
  4. Evaluating patient outcomes of comprehensive medication assessments by pharmacists (funded by Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy):
  5. SaferMedsNL (funded by Department of Health and Community Services, Government of NL):
Selected Awards
  • 2025 Canadian Pharmacist of the Year â€“ Canadian Pharmacists Association
  • 2025 Canadian Pharmacists Journal Best Paper of the Year: Role of the pharmacist caring for people at risk or living with HIV in Canada (co-author; led by Stacey Tkachuk and Erin Ready)
  • 2024 James C. Quick Award – Pharmacists’ Association of Newfoundland and Labrador
  • 2020 CNIE 2020 Award of Merit for the Award of Excellence in Instructional Design in Higher Education
  • 2010 Top 10 Top 100 Notable Pharmacists (1910-2010) â€“ Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board
  • 2010 Alfred G. Dawe Distinguished Service Award â€“ Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists, NL Branch
  • 3x recipient of the Bristol Myers Squibb Excellence in Pharmaceutical Teaching award (2000, 2002, 2010)
Selected Publications (last five years)
  1. Tan DHS, Hull MW, Onyegbule SO, Ajiboye W, Arkell C, Baril JG, Cox J, Harris M, Kelly DV, Kwag M, Lambert G, O’Byrne P, O’Donnell S, Shukalek CB, Singh A, Sotindjo T, Swidrovich J, Tremblay C, Yoong. Canadian Guidelines on HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and Post Exposure Prophylaxis – 2025. CMAJ (under review).

  2. Bergin KM, Black EK, Murphy AL, Kelly DV, Wilby KJ. . International Journal of Pharmacy Practice. 2025 Jun 12:riaf039.

  3. Wilbur K, Kelly DV, Jorgenson D. . Canadian Pharmacists Journal. 2025 Mar 12;158(3):172–9.

  4. Holder KA, Ding E, Kao D, Shokoohi M, Trigg J, Hogg RS, Morkar J, Grant MD, Kelly DV. . Plos one. 2024 Jun 27;19(6):e0305898.

  5. Tkachuk S, Ready E, Chan S, Hawkes J, Janzen Cheney T, Kapler J, Kreutzwiser D, Akagi L, Coombs, M, Giguere P, Hughes C, Kelly DV, Livingston S, Martel D, Naccarato M, Nhean S, Pozniak C, Ramsey T, Robinson L, Smith J, Swidrovich J, Symes J, Yoong D, Tseng A. . Canadian Pharmacists Journal. 2024 Aug 2;157(5):218–39.

  6. Newport K, Langford AV, McEvoy AM, Kelly DV, Smith T, Tannenbaum C, Turner JP. . Canadian Pharmacists Journal. 2024 May 6;157(4):164–70.

  7. Turner JP, Newport K, McEvoy AM, Smith T, Tannenbaum C, Kelly DV. . Canadian Pharmacists Journal. 2024 Apr 13;157(3):133–42.

  8. MacDonald CB, Murphy AL, Isenor JE, Ramsey TD, Furlotte K, Smith AJ, Bishop A, Kelly DV, Woodill L, Booker C, Wilby KJ. . Canadian Pharmacists Journal. 2023 Jul;156(4):194-203.

  9. Balsom CR, Farrell A, Kelly DV. . BMC Public Health. 2023 Jun 1;23(1):1038. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16017-8.

  10. Kelly DV, Pittman N, Balsom C, Clarke A, Genge T, Jesso B, Kielly J, Phillips L. . Canadian Pharmacists Journal. 2021 May;154(3):144-8.

  11. Balsom C, Pittman N, King R, Kelly D. . International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy. 2020 Jun 3;42(4):1153–67.

  12. Kelly DV, Kielly J, Hughes C, Gahagan J, Asghari S, Hancock S, Burt K, Smyczek P, Charlton C, Nguyen H. . BMC Public Health. 2020 May 7;20(1):639.
Book Chapters
  1. Kelly DV, Patel N. Sexually Transmitted Infections. In: Tseng A. HIV Pharmacotherapy: Clinical Approaches & Applications, 2e. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists: 2025 – in press.

  2. Kelly DV. Prevention of HIV Infection. In: Therapeutics (RxTx) [Internet]. Ottawa (ON): Canadian Pharmacists Association [updated October 2023]: 2020.

  3. Kelly DV, Antoniou T. Sexually Transmitted Infections. In: Schafer JJ, Cocohoba J, Sherman E, Tseng A. HIV Pharmacotherapy 2018: The Pharmacist’s Role in Care and Treatment. Maryland: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists: 2018.
Student/Postdoctoral Supervision
PhD

Catherine Balsom (in progress), ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ University School of Pharmacy. Testing and Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus in Patients Receiving Opioid Agonist Therapy in Newfoundland and Labrador.

MSc(Pharm)

Luke Stuart (accepted, Sept. 2025), ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ University School of Pharmacy.

Michael Coombs (in progress), ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ University School of Pharmacy. The implementation of a pharmacist-led testing service for HIV and Hepatitis C in rural NL correctional facilities: a pilot study.

Catherine Balsom (graduated October 2023), ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ University of Newfoundland. .

Medical Student Research Supervision

Jill Koebel (in progress), ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ University Faculty of Medicine. Healing from trauma and violence in women living with HIV.

Steven Rowe (completed), ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ University Faculty of Medicine. Perceptions of Elderly and Caregivers on Deprescribing in Long-Term Care: A Qualitative Interview Study.

Media

Henrike Wilhelm. CBC News, July 28, 2025.

Anasophie Vallee. PNI Atlantic News, March 28, 2025.

. Canadian Pharmacists Association. March 26, 2025.

. Arlette Lazarenko. CBC News, November 4, 2023.

. Geoff Bartlett. CBC News, February 14, 2017.

. CBC News, March 8, 2017.

Contact

Dr. Debbie Kelly
709-864-7805