Debra graduated from UCD in 1995 with a first class joint honours degree in Botany and Molecular Genetics, and in 2001 completed her PhD in Prof Matthew Harmey's laboratory studying differential gene expression techniques. Debra was one of the original twelve Conway Post-doctoral Fellows to be recruited and studied molecular mechanisms of kidney disease with Profs Hugh Brady, Catherine Godson, William Watson and John Fitzpatrick at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital prior to the opening of the Conway Institute. She was awarded the first Conway Post-doctoral Fellows prize for Best Oral Presentation at the Conway Festival of Research in 2001.