Deborah Fuller is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington and Associate Director of Research at the Washington National Primate Research Center. Her research focuses on DNA and RNA-based vaccines and antivirals for infectious diseases and has led to the translation of two vaccines from bench to the clinic including the first DNA vaccine to induce protective levels of immunity in humans, and the first self-amplifying RNA vaccine licensed for human use. She has authored over 100 manuscripts and book chapters, is a co-inventor on over a dozen patents and is a co-founder of Orlance, Inc (www.orlance.com), a biotechnology company developing a needle-free nucleic acid vaccine delivery platform.
She served on several National Institutes of Health study sections for vaccines and HIV and on the leadership team for NIH’s COVID-19 Vaccines and Therapeutics Evaluation Network (COVTEN). During the COVID-19 pandemic, she also played a key role to help inform the public about the science behind mRNA and other vaccines and contributed to numerous news articles, podcasts, op-eds, televised news stories and instructional videos. Recent honors include the Hope College Distinguished Alumni Award in 2021 and the Latinx Faculty Excellence in Research Award in 2022.
