Roberta Lynn DeBiasi, MD, MS

Division Chief, Infectious Diseases

Co-Director, Congenital Infection Program
 

Roberta Lynn DeBiasi, MD, MS, is chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, the Robert H. Parrot Professor of Pediatric Research and co-director of the Congenital Infection Program at Children’s National Hospital. She holds appointments as tenured professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, , as well as principal investigator in the Center for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science at the Children’s National Research Institute.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Boston University, she received a Doctorate in Medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and completed internship and residency in pediatrics at the University of California, Davis Medical Center. She completed her fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Colorado/Denver Children’s Hospital and served on the faculty for 10 years in Denver, prior to joining Children’s National/GWU in 2005. Dr. DeBiasi treats normal and immunocompromised children hospitalized with severe infections at Children’s National. She provides leadership for the hospital’s response to emerging infections and interfaces with regional, national and international authorities in this role.

Dr. DeBiasi’s research expertise includes basic science as well as clinical/translational research. She serves as principal investigator for research and clinical trials focusing on severe and emerging viral infections affecting pregnant women, neonates, immunocompromised hosts and normal children. Specific areas of research focus include: NIAID/NIH Congenital and Perinatal Infection Consortium  funding to study natural history and novel treatments for congenital cytomegalovirus infection, and neonatal herpes simplex virus, enterovirus, and parechovirus infection. She is co- director of the Congenital Infection Program at Children's National which includes research protocols in the U.S. and internationally focused on prenatal imaging, testing, genetics and virologic aspects of congenital Zika infection. She provided institutional leadership for the Children's National COVID and Ebola response and preparedness efforts. Dr. DeBiasi’s research portfolio includes studies focused on treatment and long-term outcomes of Lyme disease and COVID infection in children, as well as Kawasaki Disease. She is also involved in emergency investigational new drug (IND) acquisition of agents for treatment of severe viral myocarditis, encephalitis and malaria.

Dr. DeBiasi has authored over 150 original research, review articles and book chapters. She greatly enjoys teaching and mentoring graduate and medical students, residents and fellows in the classroom, the hospital wards, and in research. She is also actively engaged in continuing medical education for community physicians, outreach to the community and educating the public via media appearances on NPR radio, local and national newspaper and television.

• Congenital Zika Virus Program
• Infectious Diseases
• Prenatal Pediatrics Institute
• Telehealth