Donald E. Mullins, PhD, is Assistant Vice President for Health Affairs & Government Relations at the University of South Florida, where he also serves as Deputy Chief of Staff at USF Health and Assistant Professor of Public Health Practice. He earned an Associate of Arts from St. Petersburg College and both a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a PhD from the University of South Florida. His research focuses on American government and public policy, with particular attention to health policy and legislative behavior.

Dr. Mullins is past chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges Government Relations Representatives and provides strategic guidance to the Council of Florida Medical School Deans on state legislative strategy. A former member of the Florida Board of Medicine, he continues to serve as a guest panelist on the Board’s probable cause panel and is a Fellow of the Federation of State Medical Boards.

His policy work has addressed graduate medical education funding, regulation of pelvic examination procedures, surgical informed consent, hyperbaric oxygen treatment for veterans, donor breast milk banks, cardiovascular research investment, and expansion of Florida’s physician and nursing workforce.

With a long record of service in higher education, health policy, and public affairs, Dr. Mullins brings extensive experience at the intersection of academic medicine and state government. He and his wife, Vickie, have been married for more than two decades and are the proud parents of two daughters, Reagan and Avery.