Bruner named American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow

The renowned researcher and administrator is the first nurse at Emory to receive the lifetime honor.

Professor and Robert W. Woodruff Chair in Nursing Deborah Bruner, RN, PhD, FAAN, has been named to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Class of 2025 Fellows. She is the first nurse at Emory to receive this honor from AAAS, the publisher of the Science family of journals.

Election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor awarded to individuals whose work shapes scientific progress and informs public policy.

Bruner is a renowned leader in cancer research. As the only nurse to lead a national clinical trials cooperative group, she has advanced patient-centered care by shifting focus to patient-reported outcomes. Ranked among the top 5% of investigators in National Institutes of Health funding, she is an important figure in symptom management and radiation oncology.

As Emory’s senior vice president for research from 2018 to 2025, she helped the university surpass $1 billion in annual funding and achieve a No. 3 global ranking for new drug discoveries. She also led Emory’s participation in the Science Gallery Network, an international university consortium that creates programs blending science, art, technology and design.