After surviving a near-death experience, Debra followed her intuition and began creating photo collages based on the theme of healing and resiliency. Debra earned a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and has designed covers and interior art for major book and magazine publishers, including Van Nostrand Reinhold, Penguin USA, Popular Photography, and Consumer Reports. Later, she attended graduate school, where she studied psychology and gerontology and was awarded honors from the Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honor society for her academic work. A member of the Screen Actors Guild, Debra has numerous stage and television credits. She was a background actress on Saturday Night Live for 4 years.