Debra Bernhardt (née Searles; born 1965) is an Australian theoretical chemist.
Bernhardt has previously worked as an associate professor in the Faculty of Science at Griffith University.
During her time at Griffith University, she became the founding director of the Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre.
In 2012, Bernhardt joined the University of Queensland as a professor in a joint appointment between the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences and the Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.
Current research projects include: the study of nonequilibrium liquids via statistical mechanics; nonequilibrium molecular dynamics; dynamical systems theory; chaos theory; the fluctuation theorem; the study of fluids in confined spaces; the development of algorithms for molecular dynamics simulations; and the calculation of liquid properties.