Donald E. Mullins, PhD, serves as Assistant Vice President for Health Affairs & Government Relations and Deputy Chief of Staff at USF Health. He also holds an appointment as Associate Professor of Practice in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. His work spans legislative advocacy, public policy, strategic advising, and executive operations.

Dr. Mullins is a past chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges Government Relations Representatives and advises 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 its probable cause panel. He is also a Fellow of the Federation of State Medical Boards.

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

Dr. Mullins earned an Associate of Arts from St. Petersburg College and 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, legislative behavior, and political representation.

He and his wife, Vickie, have been married for more than two decades and have two daughters, Reagan and Avery.