Deborah Spector

Dr. Deborah Spector is a Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She received her PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California San Francisco. Her research focuses on viral pathogenesis and the molecular mechanisms used by viruses such as herpesviruses and zika virus to subvert the cell's signaling and regulatory pathways. Her lab has also developed a novel strategy for vaccines against viruses that persist and establish latency, and has shown their protective efficacy in animal models of cytomegalovirus infection and genital herpes simplex virus infection.

In addition to her research, Dr. Spector directs the ACTRI Translational Research Alliance. She is responsible for all aspects of the Translational Research Alliance, including fostering collaborations between clinical investigators, basic scientists, engineers, and industry. A major program that she oversees is Galvanizing Engineering in Medicine (GEM), which is an initiative to bring engineers and clinicians together to develop innovative technologies that can be applied to solving challenging problems in medical care.

GEM Program Director and Associate Director