Debbie worked alongside New Jersey’s biopharmaceutical industry leaders to establish BioNJ in 1994. Dedicated to BioNJ’s mission to help their Members help Patients, Ms. Hart is recognized as a respected thought leader and influential advocate. Under Debbie’s leadership, BioNJ has become the trusted voice of the life sciences industry in New Jersey – working directly with legislative leaders in both Trenton and Washington D.C. to advance the life sciences industry, foster medical innovation and patient access while ensuring health equity and healthcare affordability.
With the onset of COVID-19, Debbie was named by Governor Murphy to New Jersey’s Restart and Recovery Advisory Council and by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin to the Economic Advisory Council to Restart the Economy, created to advise State leadership on economic matters impacted by COVID-19.
Additionally, she was named by Governor Murphy to the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology where she serves as Vice Chair; as Co-Chair of the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education Strategic Plan Working Group on Research, Innovation and Talent; and the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and Business Partnership. Ms. Hart served as Chair of the bipartisan, bicameral New Jersey Biotechnology Task Force which was charged with making recommendations to the Legislature for fostering the growth of the biotechnology industry in New Jersey most of which have been enacted.
A strong advocate for advancing education, Debbie sits on the Board of the Blanche and Irwin Lerner Center for the Study of Pharmaceutical Management at Rutgers University Business School. She served on the Advisory Boards for Students 2 Science, the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s (NJIT) Biomedical Engineering Program, and the founding Advisory Board that guided the establishment of the nationally recognized Monmouth County Biotechnology High School.
Debbie was named one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People in Biotechnology by Scientific American Worldview; a PharmaVOICE 2021 Red Jacket Honoree and to PharmaVOICE‘s 100 Most Inspiring People list with repeat appearances on ROI-NJ’s Influencers Power List; ROI-NJ’s Healthcare Influencers: ROI-NJ’s Women in Business List; to the NJBIZ Health Care Power 50, to the NJBIZ Manufacturing 50, one of New Jersey’s top CEOs by COMMERCE Magazine and for the tenth time in 2022 to the NJBIZ Power 100, a listing of the 100 most influential people in New Jersey business.
Debbie holds an M.S. from the S. I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University where she graduated cum laude and a B.A. from Trenton State College, now The College of New Jersey, where she graduated magna cum laude.
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