Her research focuses on civil-military relations and international security. She received a PhD from the Department of Political Science at Yale University. De Bruin worked previously as a Research Associate in U.S. Foreign policy and International Law at the Council on Foreign Relations and as a Research Associate in the Fellows Program at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C. She also taught international relations to high school students through Yale’s Young Global Scholars Program and the United Nations Association’s Global Classrooms Program. She hold a BA in Political Science from Columbia University.