Career: Week of Aug. 19
Lawrence Purpura, a native of Mt. Lebanon, is now part of CDC’s 2015 class of Epidemic Intelligence Service officers.
Also known as CDC’s “disease detectives,” only about 60 EIS officers are selected each year from a highly competitive national candidate pool of medical doctors, veterinarians and PhD recipients. EIS officers work across the United States and around the globe to keep Americans safe from a variety of health threats. All of the EIS officers in the 2014 class were involved in the Ebola response.
Dr. Purpura received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his medical doctoracte from Tulane.
He just completed his initial “disease detective” training in Atlanta and now goes on to serve as an EIS officer in the CDC’s Viral Special Pathogens Branch, where he will serve on the front lines of public health.
Michelle L. Harvison, M.D. has joined Advanced Women’s Care of Pittsburgh, P.C., and is now on staff at St. Clair Hospital.
Dr. Harvison earned her medical degree at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, Huntington, W. Va., and completed a residency in OB/GYN at Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus, Ohio. She resides in Peters Township.