Deborah is currently the Senior Associate Director of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI) and the Centre for Outbreak Preparedness (COP), heading the administrative, finance and business functions of both units. She joined Duke-NUS in April 2022, and is actively involved in laying the foundation for SDGHI’s next stage of growth. This includes synergising the job functions across the teams, aligning activities to their objectives, and improving internal and external communications to advance the agendas of SDGHI and COP. 
 
Prior to this role, Deborah was Chief Operating Officer of a learning and development consultancy, leading its APAC operations for close to 10 years where she honed her expertise in finance, human resources, compliance, marketing, communications and programme development. A former entrepreneur, she also set up a communications consultancy focusing on strategic communications. Here, she organised and led numerous high-profiled events across industries ranging from sports to healthcare. Her clients included Team Singapore, the World Health Organisation and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
 
An educator at heart, Deborah is a trained teacher, having once taught in a secondary school and at Republic Polytechnic where she leveraged the use of authentic and problem-based learning to bring learning to life. Her belief in the power of education led her to set up the non-profit organisation, Project Happy Feet, to support education and training of underprivileged children and youth in Singapore and the region. An alumna of the National University of Singapore, she was awarded the Outstanding Young Alumni Award by the university for her efforts, and was featured in Channel News Asia’s Asians of the Year in 2011. She was also a Singapore Women Award Honoree in the same year.
 
Deborah holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Merit) in Sociology and English Language from the National University of Singapore, and also graduated from the UCLA-NUS Executive MBA programme, where she was placed on the Honor’s Society at the Anderson School of Management, UCLA.
 
Deborah believes in creating change, contributing back to the community, creating social impact and championing sustainability efforts. A lifelong learner, she has recently obtained an Advanced Certificate in Sustainability and Sustainable Businesses.