Debbie-Ann Shirley

Debbie-Ann Shirley, MD, MPH, is a board-certified pediatrician in the UVA Department of Pediatrics and head of the UVA Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease. She specializes in diagnosing and treating infections in children, with a special interest in global health.

Dr. Shirley was born on the island of Jamaica, where she attended medical school at the University of the West Indies, graduating with honors. She completed pediatric residency training at the Children’s Hospital at Sinai in Baltimore, Maryland, where she received the 2008 Harry Gordon Award for Excellence in Scholarly Activity, given for the highest-ranked work by her residency program.

Dr. Shirley followed with fellowship training in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Maryland Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, where she received training and gained experience in conducting interventional trials, involving both new vaccine candidates and therapeutics. She supplemented this training by earning a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She joined the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UVA in 2015, serving as medical director from 2017 to 2020. She now serves as head of the division and remains active in clinical research. She has been part of the COVID-19 response team at UVA and directs the COVID-19 clinic.

Dr. Shirley met her husband, Shannon Moonah, MD, ScM, a UVA physician-scientist while in medical school. In her free time, Dr. Shirley enjoys spending time with her husband and two children.