Deborah Birx

Deborah Leah Birx (born April 4, 1956) is an American physician and diplomat who served as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump from 2020 to 2021.

Birx specializes in HIV/AIDS immunology, vaccine research, and global health.

In 1976, while enrolled at Hershey Medical School, Birx married a fellow medical student Bryan Dudley Raybuck and future cardiologist she met at Houghton University, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry, completing her undergraduate studies in two years.

In 1980, Birx earned an Doctor of Medicine from the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

From 1980 to 1994, Birx served as an active duty reserve officer in the United States Army.

From 1980 to 1989, Birx worked as a physician at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

In 1981, Birx completed a one-year internship and did a two-year residency in internal medicine.

From 1983 to 1986, she completed two fellowships in clinical immunology in the areas of allergies and diagnostics, where she worked in Anthony Fauci's lab.

From 1985 to 1989, Birx was the assistant chief of the Walter Reed Allergy/Immunology Service.

Birx started her career as a clinician in immunology, eventually focusing on HIV/AIDS vaccine research.

From 1986 to 1989, Birx worked at the National Institutes of Health as an investigator specializing in cellular immunology.

Birx returned to Walter Reed, where from 1989 to 1995 she worked in the Department of Retroviral Research, first as an assistant chief and then as chief of the division.

She was lab director in HIV-1 Vaccine Development for a year.

From 1994 to 2008, Birx was active duty regular Army, achieving the rank of Colonel.

Birx became the director of the United States Military HIV Research Program at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, a position she held for nine years, from 1996 to 2005.

In that position, Birx led the HIV vaccine clinical trial of RV 144, the first supporting evidence of any vaccine being effective in lowering the risk of contracting HIV.

From 2005 to 2014, Birx served as the director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA), part of the agency's Center for Global Health.

Starting in 2014, she oversaw the implementation of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program to support HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs in 65 countries.

From 2014-2020, Birx was the United States global AIDS coordinator for presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and served as the United States special representative for global health diplomacy between 2015 and 2021.

In January 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Birx to be the Ambassador-at-Large and U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator as part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program.

Birx was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote on April 2, 2014, and was sworn in two days later.

She described her role as ambassador to help meet the HIV prevention and treatment targets set by Obama in 2015 to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Her role has focused on the areas of HIV/AIDS immunology, vaccine research, and global health issues around HIV/AIDS.

As part of her work with HIV prevention, Birx created a program called DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe), a public-private partnership focused on reducing infection rates among adolescent girls and young women.

Birx was part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force from February 2020 to January 2021.

In March 2021, Birx joined ActivePure Technology as Chief Medical and Science Advisor.

Birx was born in Pennsylvania.

She is the daughter of Donald Birx, a mathematician and electrical engineer, and Adele Sparks Birx, a nursing instructor.

Her late brother Danny was a scientist who founded a research company, and her older brother, Donald Birx, is president of Plymouth State University.

Her family lived in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where she attended Lampeter-Strasburg High School.

Growing up, the siblings used a shed behind their family home as a makeshift lab for experiments in astronomy, geology, biology, and on one occasion, a homemade satellite dish antenna mounted on roller skates.

In Birx's sophomore year, she won third place at the Lancaster City-County Science Fair, and she was featured in a front-page story in the Lancaster New Era with the subheading: Girls Sweep Top 3 Prizes.

She told the Intelligencer Journal that, "third is alright, but I'll be back. I want that first prize."

Her junior year she competed in the International Science and Engineering Fair in San Diego.

Her family later moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and she attended Carlisle High for her final year of high school.

During her senior year, she competed at the Capital Area Science Fair and was awarded the Grand Prize.

In March 2020, Birx became a board member of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

PEPFAR management under Birx came under scrutiny in a February 2020 audit conducted by the State Department's Office of the Inspector General, with leadership of the program being described as "dictatorial", "directive" and "autocratic."

On February 27, 2020, Vice President Mike Pence appointed Birx to the position of White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator.

As part of this role, Birx reported to Pence on the White House Coronavirus Task Force.