Deborah Harris

Deborah Harris serves as a Lecturer at Case Western Reserve University, acting as Primary Instructor for multiple sections of the BIOL222L laboratory course within the HHMI Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program. She has taught 7 sections from Fall 2023 through Fall 2025, instructing over 150 undergraduate students annually across freshmen-dominated cohorts.

Her research focuses on microbial genomics and bacteriophage discovery, utilizing bacterial hosts like Microbacterium foliorum and Azotobacter vinlandii to advance viral evolutionary studies. The SEA-PHAGES program embeds authentic research into undergraduate curricula, where students isolate and characterize novel phages through hands-on microbiology and bioinformatics workflows.

Harris leads students in in situ phage discovery methodologies, contributing to national genomic databases while training the next generation of scientists. Her work directly supports the program's mission to integrate discovery-based research into foundational biology education, with scheduled instruction continuing through Fall 2025 terms.