Bernadine Waller, PHD, LMHC

Dr. Bernadine Y. Waller is an international award-winning Assistant Professor and principal investigator of the DIVAA Lab at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and a Research Scientist at New York State Psychiatric Institute.

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). Dr. Waller is a sought-after expert, whose trailblazing scholarship is guiding national domestic violence policies and protocols for entities inclusive of the US Department of Defense and FUTURES Without Violence, and international supports as far away as Israel, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Her most recent book chapter helped inform the Biden White House’s inaugural national agenda on domestic violence.

Her cutting-edge research can be found in high-impact journals, inclusive of The Lancet, The Lancet Psychiatry, American Journal of Psychiatry, and Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Her TEDx Talk, “ Hindered Help,” illuminates the barriers that Black women encounter during their IPV help-seeking process and is part of the required curriculum at several universities.

Dr. Waller is the Director of Community Engagement for the Columbia Mental Wellness Center (ENGAGE). Professionally, she serves on the Women’s Council for the Role and Status of Women for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and the Research Capacity and Development Committee for the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR). She also sits on the Board of Trustees for the Long Island Children’s Museum, where she co-leads the Community Engagement Committee.

She completed her postdoctoral training at Columbia Psychiatry, earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work and Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling at Adelphi University, and her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a concentration in Legal Studies at Temple University.