Deidre Downs, a resident of Birmingham, will begin medical studies at the University of Alabama School of Medicine next year. She was a Rhodes Scholar Finalist and an Echols Scholar at University of Virginia. She attended Samford University in Birmingham Alabama, from which she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's in history.

An aspiring pediatrician, Deidre will spend the next year working towards increasing awareness and community action towards her Miss America Platform, Curing Childhood Cancer.

Downs was also honored with the 2004 Quality of Life Award and a scholarship for her work creating Alabama's Making Miracles Program, designed to raise awareness and funds in the fight against cancer in children.