Deborah Dyett Desir, MD ’80, associate professor of clinical medicine at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), was celebrated by the New Haven County Medical Association with a leadership award at its 2022 annual meeting on Oct. 27.
After receiving her medical degree from YSM, Desir completed her fellowship training at Yale in 1987. She worked as a rheumatologist at a staff model HMO, and in 1993 she started a community rheumatology private practice in Hamden, Conn. The practice grew to include three sites, including in Branford and Milford.
Desir joined the YSM faculty in 2019 and is a member of the section of Rheumatology, Allergy & Immunology in the Department of Internal Medicine. She is the medical director of the Yale Rheumatology Clinic in Hamden, where she cares for some of the same patients, she first saw more than 30 years ago.
Desir serves on the governing board of the executive committee of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). She was inducted as president-elect of the ACR in November 2022 and will be president in November 2023. In 2020, she led NHCMA as its president. She presently sits on the board of directors of the Connecticut State Medical Society.