Deborah Watkins Bruner, RN, PhD, FAAN

Biography

Deborah Watkins Bruner, RN, PhD, FAAN, is a Professor and the Robert W. Woodruff Chair in Nursing at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, and holds a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Bruner was formerly Senior Vice President for Research at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. In this role, she had responsibility for approximately 350 administrative staff across 10 offices including sponsored research, research administration services, institutional review board, animal care & use, tech transfer and more.  She facilitated a 28% increase in NIH training grants by establishing the first formal training grants office. She facilitated the administrative services which supported Emory University being ranked number 3 in the world for new drugs discovered (J Tech Transfer 2023), and created several new offices including the first research quality assurance office, first research compliance office, first research analytics office, the first programming for women in innovation and the female founders forum, among others. Highlights of her administration included: a 56% increase in grant funding over 7 years, increasing proposal submissions to >$2 Billion, and leading the University to achieve, for the first time, $1 Billion in research funding (and expenditures) and sustaining that funding for 3-years running (2023-2025).

Dr. Bruner is a champion of public engagement with science through art.  She was the founding executive sponsor of Science Gallery Atlanta (2020-2025), engaging Emory University as the 8th Science Gallery International Network member. Science Gallery Network consists of leading universities across the world united in a mission to ignite creativity and discovery where science and art collide. The successful 5-year project engaged students, faculty, artists and the public in multi-dimensional experiences that fostered a dynamic new model for community engagement focused on imagination, innovation, and participatory science, with exhibition topics covering addiction, justice, hip-hop music, and climate resilience.

Dr. Bruner is a member of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and served as Associate Director for Mentorship, Training and Education (2015-2018) and Associate Director for Outcomes Research (2011-2015). She is an internationally renowned researcher and clinical trialist with a focus on patient reported outcomes (PROs), symptom management, and comparative effectiveness of radiotherapy modalities. Her most current research is focused on the role of the human microbiome in carcinogenesis and cancer treatment outcomes.

Dr. Bruner’s leadership, especially in the National Cancer Institute (NCI)- sponsored National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN), transcends disciplines and has led to improved health and quality of life and decreased cost outcomes for those treated for cancer. Recognition of her work led to her appointment by President Obama to one of only two National Institutes of Health Presidential appointed committees, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Cancer Advisory Board (2015-2020). In 2021, in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the National Cancer Act, she was recognized among only 14 scientists in the area of cancer prevention and control as Champion and Changemakers. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has co-authored several reports including most recently, Radioactive Sources: Applications and Alternative Technologies, and has served as a consultant to the Division of Human Health at the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria. Dr. Bruner has won numerous awards for research and mentorship. She has mentored nursing, psychology, epidemiology and medical junior faculty as well as pre- and post-doctoral students/fellows and has served as primary mentor for both nurses and physicians on 9 career development awards.

Dr. Bruner has worked for almost three decades with the NCTN and is the first and only nurse to ever lead a national clinical trials cooperative group, first as the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP), and currently as multi-PI of the NRG Oncology group National Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP). NRG is a consortium of over 1900 institutions and involving over 3,000 physicians, nurses, physicists, and statisticians, in the U.S. and Canada. The NCORP focuses on symptom amelioration, quality of life and comparative effectiveness trials in community settings, where most cancer care is delivered. Dr. Bruner’s pioneering leadership in the NCTN led to a paradigm shift from a historically medically dominated focus on survival and toxicity, to a patient-centered bio-behavioral focus that includes patient reported outcomes (PROs) and has changed clinical practice. She also currently serves on NRG Oncology’s Executive Committee.

Her global work included a project to assist in preparing for opening the first modern radiotherapy in Ethiopia through 3D treatment planning and quality assurance. She is past chair of the advisory board for the Emory University School of Nursing-Addis Ababa University (AAU) partnership in developing AAUs first doctoral program in nursing and serves on dissertation committees for AAU nurses. Dr. Bruner served on the board of the Center for Global Health Innovation, Atlanta, Georgia, and currently serves on the Georgia advisory committee of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.

Education

Dr. Bruner received her PhD in nursing, with a focus on outcomes research, from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been continuously funded since 1998 from sponsors including the American Cancer Society, Department of Defense, Oncology Nursing Society, State of Pennsylvania, National Institute of Nursing Research, National Cancer Institute, and the National Institutes of Health. This has culminated in her ranking among the top 5% of all NIH funded investigators in the world since 2012, according to the Blue Ridge Institute.

Titles & Roles

• Professor and Robert W. Woodruff Chair in Nursing

  Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
• Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology

  Emory University School of Medicine

Research

Grants

Publications

Dr. Bruner has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles, and numerous books/book chapters. She has served as editor-in-chief of one book and three editions of an ONS Guidelines Manual for radiation oncology nursing. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including the Journal of the America Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer  International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics and the Oncology Nursing Forum.