Dr. Angela Walden is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Research Assistant Professor in the Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science in the Department of Medicine. She is also a Faculty Affiliate of the Community Engagement & Collaboration Core in UIC’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science. Dr. Walden received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from California Polytechnic State University and Master of Arts and Doctoral Degrees in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral training at the Institute for Juvenile Research in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dr. Walden provides clinical services through the Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic. Her training as a clinical-scientist and background in both clinical and community psychology informs her clinical approach; she utilizes empirically-supported models while also recognizing that clients’ cognitions and behaviors are influenced by individual-, family-, and social-level factors. Her theoretical orientation incorporates a multilevel understanding of mental health and intervention, rooted in cognitive-behavioral approaches.

Dr. Walden’s research focuses on community-based prevention and intervention with high-risk, marginalized populations (e.g., American Indians/Native Americans living in urban areas; juvenile justice involved youth). Her specific interests include quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research designs to examine the development, implementation, and evaluation of community-based interventions; implementation and transportation of innovative and effective treatments and practices in novel community settings; the infusion of intervention practices into existing non-mental health settings and through the actions of non-mental health workforces (e.g., juvenile corrections staff); community-based collaboration and system-level change; and factors that contribute to mental health disparities among members of high-needs, underserved populations.

Dr. Walden recently completed a qualitative study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health examining community readiness for a culturally relevant STIs/HIV and intimate partner violence intervention with urban American Indians in Chicago. In addition, she provided a commentary on health disparities affecting urban American Indians for a report created by UIC’s Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy; this report can be found at: https://irrpp.uic.edu.

Dr. Walden is also the recipient of a Diversity Supplement from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities that builds on an existing research study - “Peer Versus Adult-Led HIV Prevention for Juvenile Offenders: Effectiveness and Costs” (R01MD010433; PI: G. Donenberg). Dr. Walden’s Diversity Supplement study examines the determinants of implementation of an evidence-based intervention (PHAT Life) that targets youth involved in the juvenile legal system, focuses on HIV and mental health, and is delivered by juvenile probation setting staff.