Brendolyn Bailey-Burch, M.S., serves as a Senior Research Associate and Principal Investigator for the Prevention Research and Community Education Team at MIMH. She has been part of the MIMH faculty since 2003. With over 20 years of experience in the prevention field, Bailey-Burch was among the first in the State of Missouri to obtain the Advanced Certified Substance Abuse Prevention Professional credential from the Missouri Substance Counselors Certification Board in 2007. Her research focuses on enhancing minority health and reducing health disparities by developing, implementing, and assessing prevention interventions for communities of color in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Bailey-Burch is highly skilled in writing, securing, and managing federal and local grants, as well as in evaluation oversight, budget preparation and collaboration development. Additionally, she is a trained suicide prevention instructor and previously served as the MIMH director of Mental Health First Aid-Missouri, a public education program aimed at helping individuals recognize and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. In 2016, she received the UMSL Trailblazer Award and was also a recipient of the Phenomenal Woman Award sponsored by St. Louis’ Radio One. Bailey-Burch was presented with MIMH’s first Diversity Award in 2019 and was recognized as UMSL’s Senior Faculty Investigator in 2020. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and a Master’s in counselor education, both from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.