Deborah 'Debby' Good
Co-Director and Faculty Fellow
Dr. Deborah 'Debby' Good is serving as co-director and faculty fellow in the Office of Undergraduate Research for 2024-25. She holds a B.S. in Biomedical Research from the State University of New York, College at Fredonia, and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Northwestern University. Debby did her postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health where she created several lines of knockout mice, one of which she still studies in her research lab in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise. Undergraduate research at SUNY Fredonia changed Debby’s life and opened her eyes to the possibility of doing research full time as a professor. Since coming to Virginia Tech in 2006, she has run several different NIH and USDA funded summer research programs, mentoring over 150 undergraduates doing undergraduate research. Research from Debby’s translational research laboratory has discovered that the nutraceutical, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) can treat genetic obesity and fertility, resulting in two US and one international patent, and the formation of “Good Family Foods Group, LLC”, which seeks to develop functional foods that can treat and prevent weight gain in individuals with genetic obesity.
Education
- B.S., Biomedical Research, State University of New York, College at Fredonia, 1987
- Ph.D., Molecular and Cellular Biology, Northwestern University, 1992
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, 1993-1997