Debora Barnett Foster is a Professor and the Director of the Graduate Program in Molecular Science in the Department of Chemistry and Biology at Ryerson University. Foster earned her BSC, MSC, and PhD from the University of Toronto. She began teaching in the Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences in 1985, joining the faculty in 1989. In 1996, Foster chaired the Professional Affairs Committee of the Ryerson Faculty Association. She took on the role of Director of the Graduate Program in Molecular Science from 2007 to 2010 and again in 2012. Her research interests include host-pathogen interactions, particularly the molecular basis of pathogenesis and the impact of environmental stress on pathogen virulence, and pathogenesis of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli. Foster was awarded the GREET Teaching Award in 2001 and, in 2012, was named a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of her contribution to the Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science. She is a member of the American Society for Microbiology and the Canadian Association of Gastroenterologists, and is a research consultant for the Research Institute at the Hospital for Sick Children.