She is an associate professor at the University of Waikato,[1][2] and focuses her research on indigenous psychology, Mātauranga Māori and cultural competency.

[3] Waitoki was one of the driving forces of the National Māori Graduates of Psychology Symposium, an event held in November 2002.

In 2018, she became the lead investigator for a Marsden grant-funded study involving Mātauranga Māori and Indigenous psychology,[9][1] and in the following year received an additional Marsden grant, as a member of a multidisciplinary team researching Waikato wetland pā using carbon–14 wiggle-match dating (WMD) and dendrochronology to give more precise dates to wetland pā pallisades.

[10] In 2019, Waitoki proposed the creation of a Kaupapa Māori-based clinical psychology programme in New Zealand, training Māori clinicians with a Māori world view, in order to address inequalities in the New Zealand mental health system.

The first was for a project to investigate Māori maternal health inequalities, entitled Raranga, raranga taku takapau: hapū ora for tamariki, investigating the use of Mātauranga Māori and tikanga to improve the wellbeing of mothers.