Diversity in Life Sciences

Dr. Magdia De Jesus is currently the Director of Scientific Strategy and Portfolio Lead at Pfizer’s Worldwide Medical Safety Division. In 2019, she joined Pfizer’s Vaccines Research and Development Division as a Senior Principal Scientist where she co-lead the meningococcal vaccines program. Prior to joining Pfizer, she was an Assistant Professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York, School of Public Health. As a principal investigator, her research program addressed gut immunity against fungal organisms, fungal derived vaccine delivery vehicles, and the development of animal models to understand immunity against the emerging fungal organism Candida auris. Dr. De Jesus has authored over 35 peer reviewed publications as well as several book chapters. Dr. De Jesus always acknowledges the many mentors throughout her educational and professional journey. She credits her career success because she is a product of pipeline mentorship. As a faculty member she developed “A scientist looks just like you” program to educate and inspire children in grades 3-12 to understand that they too can be scientists regardless of background or socioeconomic status. She also volunteers with the Rise High STEM program in the underserved community of Schenectady, New York . She is currently developing a STEM pipeline program for Pfizer that targets middle school and high school students.