2024 William W. L. Glenn Lecture - Debra A. Schwinn, MD, FAHA

 

Dr. Debra A. Schwinn has been president of Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida since May 2020.

After completing a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the College of Wooster, medical degree at Stanford University School of Medicine, anesthesiology residency at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and clinical cardiac anesthesiology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center, Dr. Schwinn trained in basic science research with Bob Lefkowitz and joined the faculty at the Duke University School of Medicine.

During her many years as a NIH-funded physician scientist (molecular pharmacology and genomics), she was director of cardiovascular genomics in the Center for Genomic Medicine at Duke University and James B. Duke Professor of Anesthesiology.

In 2007, Dr. Schwinn became chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington and in 2012 dean of the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa, where she also served as associate vice president for Medical Affairs and professor of anesthesiology, pharmacology, and biochemistry.

An accomplished innovator, physician scientist and academic leader, Dr. Schwinn has published more than 200 scientific manuscripts.

Since 2002, she has been a member of the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of her contributions to science and medicine.

In her spare time, Dr. Schwinn loves reading, playing the violin, CrossFit and having coffee with friends.

Dr. Schwinn says that being president of a Christian liberal arts university is an example of how a career as a physician scientist prepares one for leadership inside and outside of medicine.