Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Deborah Burgess received her Ph.D. in Immunology and Parasitology from the University of Reading, UK. Following postdoctoral training at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, she managed the Giardia research laboratory at the Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, Canada. In 1993, Burgess joined InflaZyme Pharmaceuticals as their Director of Diagnostics Development, focusing her research on TB diagnostics. In 1996, she moved to Seattle, Washington to join the Program for Appropriate for Technology in Health (PATH) where she led their diagnostics development efforts.
During this time, Burgess has successfully contributed to the development of point-of-care diagnostics that are appropriate for use in developing country settings. Burgess is currently a Senior Programme Officer in the Global Health Technologies programme at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Areas of focus at the Foundation include assessment of global health diagnostic needs based on health impact, diagnostic tool development, population health assessment and ethical, social and cultural issues related to new technology introduction and adoption. Deborah is the Foundation's Project Officer for the Pneumonia work of the Diagnostics Modelling Consortium.