Meet our team

Garland School Staff

Dr. David Pooler, Director

David Pooler, Ph.D., is the Director of the Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse Advocacy and Research Collaborative. He is a professor at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, nationally renowned expert of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse of adults, and advocate for victims.

Lucy Huh, Research Associate

Lucy Huh, M.A., is a doctoral student at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. Her research focuses on the disclosure and trauma recovery processes of victims of clergy abuse from minority and marginalized backgrounds. She advocates for legislative and institutional reform to prevent abuse in religious environments.

Outside Faculty Affiliates

Dr. R. Marie Griffith, Washington University in St. Louis

Dr. Griffith is the John C. Danforth Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis. She served for 12 years (2011-2023) as the director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics and the editor of the Center’s journal, Religion & Politics. Her research focuses on American Christianity, including the changing profile of American evangelicals and ongoing conflicts over gender, sexuality, and marriage.

Dr. Hermina Nedelescu, The Scripps Research Institute

Dr. Nedelescu is a neuroscientist working at the intersection of molecular neuroanatomy and behavior. Her research interest is concerned with how experiences are instantiated in the brain's neurocircuitry to support maladaptive behavior relevant to human psychopathology. The focus of her work is dedicated to understanding the neurobiological basis of substance use disorders including mechanisms that lead to the development of dependence, attachment and withdrawal states, craving, relapse, and cognitive impairment.