Deborah H. Fuller, PhD

Deborah Fuller, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and Associate Director of Research at the Washington National Primate Research Center. She also serves as the CTO of Orlance, a company working on a platform to deliver nucleic acid vaccines and related therapies. At UW, Dr. Fuller leads a team that is developing nucleic acid-based vaccines and antivirals including DNA and RNA vaccines for infectious diseases. She led the translation of two vaccines from bench to clinical trials including the first DNA vaccine to induce protective levels of immunity in humans, and in the past year, played a key role in advancing several vaccines and antivirals for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 including a 2^nd generation RNA vaccine for COVID-19 that entered human clinical trials in Spring 2021. She has authored over 100 manuscripts and book chapters and is a co-inventor on over a dozen patents. Dr. Fuller has served as a member of several National Institutes of Health study sections for vaccines and HIV and is currently serving on the leadership team for NIH’s COVID-19 Vaccines and Therapeutics Evaluation Network (COVTEN). She is also the co-founder of Orlance, Inc, a biotechnology company that aims to develop a needle-free nucleic acid vaccine platform and since the start of the pandemic has played a key role in as an expert in vaccines to inform the community and public on the science behind the COVID19 vaccines. She has been featured on Bloomberg TV, CNN, NPR, and has contributed to numerous news articles, op-eds, podcasts, and instructional videos published by The Washington Post, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Huffpost, Vox, Conversation.com, and others. Her op-ed articles have been translated into multiple languages and read by millions of readers worldwide. Her most recent honors include the University of Washington Latinx Faculty Excellence in Research Awards in 2019 and 2020 and the Hope College Distinguished Alumni Award in 2021.