The award recognizes her longstanding involvement with an Advisory Board and work on the reporting system (NC-VDRS).
Dr. Waller was presented the North Carolina Violent Death Reporting System’s “Legacy Award” by Kody Kinsley, North Carolina’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Scott Proescholdbell, Injury Epidemiologist and Surveillance and Informatics Unit (ESI) Manager in the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch of the N.C. Division of Public Health.
This award was presented as part of the NC-VDRS 20th Anniversary celebration at the North Carolina Public Health Association’s Pre-Conference on “The Future of Violence Prevention in NC: The Next 20 Years.”
The award is given to individuals who have made lasting contributions to public health in North Carolina through their commitment to the NC-VDRS.
Dr. Waller participated in North Carolina’s initial application for CDC funding to establish the NC-VDRS in 2003 and has been actively involved in its continual funding and success since that time. She was the original Chair of the Technical Advisory Board and a member of the Board Leadership and Evaluation Team. Since 2018, she has served as Co-Chair of the NC-VDRS Advisory Board.
“I am greatly honored to receive this award and recognition,” said Dr. Waller, who is a Research Professor in the UNC Department of Emergency Medicine, Director of the Carolina Center for Health Informatics, and a Core Faculty member in the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center.
“However, I am only one of many people dedicated to the success of the program, and none of this work would be possible without the outstanding leadership and collaboration provided over the years by the NC-VDRS leadership team. I appreciate the opportunities this work has provided to serve the people of our state.”
Since 2000, Dr. Waller has served as the Principal Investigator for many contracts with N.C. DHHS that address the use of emergency department visit and EMS encounter data for public health surveillance and research in the state.
Under her leadership, NC DETECT, the state’s syndromic surveillance system — which is a collaborative effort between the Carolina Center for Health Informatics and the N.C. Division of Public Health — has enhanced and improved statewide surveillance efforts for injury and violence, communicable disease, and environmental health.
Learn more about Dr. Waller via this link.