Deborah Guadalupe Duran, Ph.D.

Dr. Deborah Duran is the Senior Advisor to the Director for data science, data analytics and data systems. She advises the NIMHD director on the state of the field and efforts at the levels of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Health and Human Services. She also assists in coordinating NIMHD efforts to obtain better representation of minorities and social determinants of health in large datasets, address biases in emerging technologies, and enable NIMHD to have a voice in NIH efforts regarding data harmonization and management. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Duran has been a key contributor on the increased emphasis on data science and common data elements at NIH in response to the pandemic.

In 2012, Dr. Duran was appointed Director of NIMHD’s Office of Science Policy, Strategic Planning, Analysis, Reporting, and Data. In this role, Dr. Duran strived to help NIMHD become the centralized resource of minority health and health disparities biomedical data, policies and scientific advances. Prior to coming to NIMHD, Dr. Duran was Deputy Director of the Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities at the National Cancer Institute, and previously she served in the NIH Office of the Director.

Dr. Duran has a Ph.D. in social psychology with a minor in research methodologies and statistics from the University of Denver, and previously obtained an M.S. in computer science from Nova Southeastern University. In 2000 and 2004, Dr. Duran earned the HHS Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service.

Page updated January 21, 2021