Bernadine Y. Waller (she, her, hers) is an international award-winning Assistant Professor and the principal investigator of the DIVAA Lab in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. She is an implementation scientist who partners with faith- and community- based organizations to tailor and implement sustainable evidence-based mental health interventions for underserved survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV).
As principal investigator of the DIVAA Lab, she partners with an interdisciplinary team of community members to deliver culturally responsive mental health care to underserved IPV survivors. She is a rare talent who was able to obtain funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to complete her doctoral research and remains funded by the Institute. Dr. Waller developed the first theories that identify the psychosocial needs of U.S. Black women IPV survivors. Her transformative research garnered 6 awards during her tenure as postdoctoral research fellow: 1 international, 3 national, 1 NYS and 1 Columbia, along with international media coverage.
Dr. Waller is a sought-after expert, whose trailblazing scholarship is guiding national domestic violence policies and protocols for the entities inclusive of the US Department of Defense and FUTURES Without Violence. Importantly, her most recent book chapter helped inform the White House’s inaugural national agenda on domestic violence. Dr. Waller’s TEDx Talk, “Hindered Help,” illuminates the barriers that prevent Black women from securing crisis assistance during their IPV help seeking process and is part of the required curriculum at several universities.
Dr. Waller is also the Director of Community Engagement for the Community Mental Wellness Center at Columbia. The Center partners with mental health agencies to implement culturally responsive models of care in underserved communities. She currently serves on the Research Capacity and Development Committee for the Social Work and Research (SSWR); the Women’s Council, a sub-committee of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) which accredits U.S. schools of social work; and is a member of the board of trustees for the Long Island Children’s Museum.
Dr. Waller is a NYS-licensed mental health counselor who completed her postdoctoral training in implementation science at Columbia University; earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work and a Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling from Adelphi University; and secured a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, with a concentration in Legal Studies from Temple University.