Deborah L. Birx, MD

Deborah Leah Birx (born April 4, 1956) is an American physician and diplomat who serves as the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force as of March 2020.

Career

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES: The Honorable Deborah Birx, MD 9 September 2014

In 1985, Ambassador Birx began her career with the Department of Defense (DoD) as a military trained clinician in immunology, focusing on HIV/AIDS vaccine research. From 1985-1989 she served as an Assistant Chief of the Hospital Immunology Service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Through her professionalism and leadership in the field, she progressed to serve as the Director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (USMHRP) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research from 1996-2005. Ambassador Birx helped lead one of the most influential HIV vaccine trials in history (known as RV 144, or the Thai trial), which provided the first supporting evidence of any vaccine’s potential effectiveness in preventing HIV infection. During this time, she also rose to the rank of Colonel, bringing together the Navy, Army, and Air Force in a new model of cooperation – increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the U.S. military’s HIV/AIDS efforts through inter- and intra-agency collaboration. Then known as Colonel Birx, she was awarded two prestigious U.S. Meritorious Service Medals and the Legion of Merit Award.
From 2005-2014, Ambassador Birx served as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA) in the CDC Center for Global Health. As DGHA Director, she led the implementation of CDC’s PEPFAR programs around the world and managed an annual budget of more than $1.5 billion. Ambassador Birx was responsible for all of the agency's global HIV/AIDS activities, including providing oversight to more than 400 staff at headquarters, over 1,500 staff in the field, and more than 45 country and regional offices in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Recognized for her distinguished and dedicated commitment to building local capacity and strengthening quality laboratory health services and systems in Africa, in 2011, Ambassador Birx received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the African Society for Laboratory Medicine. In 2014, CDC honored her leadership in advancing the agency’s HIV/AIDS response with the highly prestigious William C. Watson, Jr. Medal of Excellence. Ambassador Birx received her medical degree from the Hershey School of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University. She trained in internal medicine and basic and clinical immunology at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health. Ambassador Birx is board certified in internal medicine, allergy and immunology, and diagnostic and clinical laboratory immunology. She has published over 220 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, authored nearly a dozen chapters in scientific publications, as well as developed and patented vaccines.

Family

Birx comes from a scientifically-oriented family. Her father, Donald, was a mathematician and electrical engineer and her mother, Adele, was a nursing instructor. One brother was a mathematician and the other a nuclear physicist.

Birx has two adult daughters, Devynn Birx-Raybuck and Danielle Birx-Raybuck.

References

• Wikipedia, US Dept of State, “SIX PROMINENT WOMEN SCIENTISTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE AIDS FIGHT”, Allgov.org, “Deborah Birx is the maternal fashion icon America needs right now”. NY Post. March 23, 2020 . “I’m a grandmother ... “