Deborah Persaud was born on August 23, 1960 in Guyana, South America.
She left Guyana at the age of 16 and moved to Brooklyn, NY in the Bushwick neighborhood with her mother and three siblings. After completing high school she attended York College (CUNY) where she obtained a BA in Education.
Deborah applied to several medical schools and was accepted to NYU Medical School where she obtained her M.D. Deborah then completed her residency (pediatric) at Columbia-Presbyterian where she was the chief resident.
While at NYU she became an Aaron Diamond Fellow and a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM).
She is currently an Associate professor, pediatric infectious diseases, JHUSOM and an Elizabeth Glaser Scientist.
Deborah is married to William Moss, M.D., M.P.H, pediatric infectious diseases specialist, Bloomberg SPH and they have three children: Taylor, 10; Ian, 8; Soraya, 6.
She describes her hobby as chauffeuring and says that “I am the American dream.”