Deborah Leah Birx is an American physician and diplomat. She specializes in HIVAIDS immunology, vaccine research and global health. She was responsible for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program in 65 countries. She is the daughter of Donald Birx, a mathematician and electrical engineer.
About Deborah Birx in brief
Deborah Leah Birx is an American physician and diplomat. She specializes in HIVAIDS immunology, vaccine research and global health. She was responsible for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program in 65 countries. Birx was confirmed by the Senate on April 2, 2014, and was sworn in two days later. In January 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Birx to be the Ambassador-at-Large and U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. In March 2020, Birx became a board member of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. On February 27, Vice President Mike Pence appointed Birx as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator. As part of this role, she reports on the White house Coronvirus Task Force. 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. In 1976, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Houghton College, 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, she served as an active duty reserve officer in the United States Army. From 1994 to 2008, she was active duty regular Army, achieving the rank of Colonel. In that position, she 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. In her role as ambassador, she focused on the HIV prevention and treatment issues around HIVAIDS. She also created a program called DREAMS focused on reducing infection rates among girls and young women.
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This page is based on the article Deborah Birx published in Wikipedia (as of Jan. 24, 2021) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
