Debora Kamin Mukaz: Black woman standing in front of a window at night. Her hair is in an afro puff. She's wearing a black blazer, pink dress, beige heels and a name tag with a red cord.

Bonjour! I am Debora Kamin Mukaz. I am a molecular and social epidemiologist, a biologist, a medical scientist, a health equity scholar, and a STEM diversity advocate.

I am originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a child, my father nurtured my interests in STEM. I graduated with a high school degree in Biology and Chemistry.

I have a B.A. in Biology and French from Luther College. There, I developed a strong interest in scientific research and conducted an honor senior thesis on the genetics of ancestry.

I have a MS degree in Biological sciences from the University of Delaware. My thesis research was on the role of TMEM16F in calcium flux, phosphatidylserine exposure and microparticle formation in platelets.

In 2019, I was awarded a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Delaware. My doctoral research was on the epidemiology of acculturation and diabetes in African immigrants in the U.S.

I analyzed National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data and interviewed Congolese immigrants in Minnesota and the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area. I also had the opportunity to discuss my work with Congolese communities in Texas.

To present my doctoral research, I received travel awards from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS).

Background: red painting. Foreground: Debora Kamin Mukaz. Black woman wearing glasses and a Black blazer. Her hair is in a curly ponytail.

Currently, I am a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine.

My research is at the intersection of molecular and social epidemiology. My research investigates systemic injustices/oppressions (and their intersectionality), their biological embodiment, and their impact on cardiovascular/cardiometabolic diseases/conditions. My other research focuses on racial and geographic disparities in cardiovascular/cardiometabolic diseases and COVID-19 in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. REGARDS is one of the largest NIH-sponsored longitudinal cohort studies of its kind in the US. I am co-chair of the REGARDS diabetes working group. From January 2022-December 2023, I had a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association to conduct a research project on residential segregation, thrombo-inflammation and hypertension in REGARDS.

My other research in REGARDS focuses on COVID-19. In 2021, I received an early career grant from the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont for a pilot study to study vascular endothelial dysfunction and the risk of COVID-19 in REGARDS. I am also actively involved in the Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID-19 Research (C4R) Study. C4R is a national, NIH-funded prospective study that includes 14 long-term cohort studies including REGARDS. C4R studies risk factors and long-term effects of COVID-19. In 2022, I received an early investigator award from C4R.

I am a pipeline investigator for the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health (VCCBH), a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. I also co-lead the REGARDS Diabetes Working Group.

Debora Kamin Mukaz: Black woman in front of a green landscape on a sunny day. She's wearing a plaid peacoat, a pink dress and beige heels. She's holding a white and beige bag.

I also co-founded and am the current President of Black In Cardio, an organization to celebrate Black people in the cardiovascular field and raise awareness about cardiovascular health in Black communities.

Black In Cardio is part of the larger BlackIn (BlackInX) movement. BlackInX is a collective of movements to address anti-Black racism in academia and STEM. In 2020, Science Magazine selected the BlackIn (BlackInX) movement as a runner-up for Breakthrough of the Year. In 2023, the United College Fund (UNCF) and the the Ernest E. Just Life Science Society recognized the Black In Cardio team for their outstanding leadership and service in life sciences. Black In Cardio is an alliance partner of Stemm Opportunity Alliance, an initiative launched by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Doris Duke Foundation to build a STEMM ecosystem rooted in equity, inclusion, and scientific excellence to power progress, innovation and prosperity for all by 2050.

From 2021-2022, I was a speaker for the COVID-19 Prevention Network (COVPN), which was formed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the US National Institutes of Health to respond to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, I joined the HIV Vaccine Trial Network (HVTN) speaker’s bureau. HVTN is the world’s largest publicly funded international collaboration facilitating the evaluation of vaccines to prevent HIV/AIDS.

I am volunteer for the American Heart Association Vermont (AHA VT) Advocacy Committee. AHA VT advocates for policies that prevent cardiovascular diseases, improve the quality of and access to care, increase research funding and expand rehabilitation services.

I am member of the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont Early Career Advisory Committee (CVRI ECAC). CVRI ECAC was formed by CVRI to ensure that the unique needs of junior investigators at the University of Vermont (UVM) and UVM Medical Center are being met. CVRI was founded in 2002 as an organization dedicated to reducing the incidence, morbidity, and mortality of heart and vascular diseases through improving prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. In 2022, I became secretary of CVRI ECAC.

In 2022-2023, I helped organize the African Stroke Conference (ASOC). ASOC is a cross-national annual scientific forum focused on cerebrovascular diseases in Africa.