Martinique Perkins Waters

Martinique Perkins Waters is a tenured Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at the University of West Alabama (UWA), actively teaching undergraduate courses including General Psychology, Fundamentals of Psychological Research, Developmental Psychology, and Experimental Psychology, alongside rotating special topics on Black Psychology and Health in Adulthood. She also instructs two levels of Advanced Data Analysis and Advanced Developmental Psychology for graduate students.

Her educational qualifications are:

• Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Louisiana State University
• Master of Arts in Psychology from Southeastern Louisiana University
• Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology with Developmental Psychology concentration from University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2010

Waters' research program centers on health disparities at the intersection of race, aging, and socioeconomic factors, with explicit expansion into low-income and rural environments to address health needs in Sumter County, Alabama. Her foundational work under Dr. David Roth at UAB examined all-cause mortality risk for caregivers of stroke survivors, establishing her expertise in gerontology and vulnerable populations.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research health disparities scholar

Currently serving a two-year term on the National RCMAR Scientist Advisory Board, Waters leverages her scholarship in health disparities to influence national research priorities. Her work at UWA integrates community-focused approaches to study how rural settings compound health inequities among aging minority populations in Sumter County.

Waters operates within UWA's Department of Behavioral Sciences, directing research initiatives that address local health challenges through interdisciplinary lenses of developmental psychology and gerontology without named lab affiliations.