Deborah C. Rubin, MD, AGAF

Deborah C. Rubin, MD, professor of medicine and of developmental biology, is being honored as an outstanding educator and role model known for providing an intellectually stimulating and supportive learning environment.

Students and other trainees point to her organization, persistence and contagious enthusiasm as keys to her success. She is course master for the second-year medical student gastrointestinal and liver pathophysiology and nutrition course, consistently ranked by students as a highlight of their year. She also mentors undergraduates and postdoctoral fellows in her laboratory, medical students through the medical school’s student advisee program, internal medicine residents through the Mentors in Medicine Program, and junior faculty. Rubin has led the MA/MD program at Washington University since 2005 and takes an active role in advising students to help them choose laboratories or clinical projects and mentors.

A highly successful scientist and member of the Department of Medicine’s Division of Gastroenterology, Rubin is a leading investigator in small bowel adaptation and epithelial-mesenchymal interactions in the GI tract. She also holds important local and national leadership positions that distinguish her as an important advocate and role model for those interested in academic science careers. She is an active member of the American Gastroenterological Association; as chair of its Committee on Women, she was instrumental in developing a highly successful national mentorship program that matches fellows with senior mentors. She also is a reviewer for multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) study sections.

Rubin received her undergraduate degree in 1977 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her medical degree in 1981 from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She completed her internship and residency at Barnes Hospital, a chief residency at the John Cochran Veterans Administration Hospital, and a clinical and research fellowship in gastroenterology at Washington University. She joined the Washington University faculty in 1988.