John David Purakal

John David Purakal, MD, MS, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. He serves as the department's first Director of Health Equity & Community Engagement, and holds appointments with the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy and Samuel Dubois Cook Center on Social Equity. Dr. Purakal's educational roles include serving as the Emergency Medicine Clerkship Director for the Duke University School of Medicine Outpatient Integrated Longitudinal Experience (PIONEER), and Core Faculty within the Department of Emergency Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Purakal has been an invited speaker locally, nationally, and internationally on topics related to health equity, racial disparities in care, and cardiovascular disease. His medical career started as a student at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, where he created a public health education initiative to provide multidisciplinary health education to at-risk populations around the city of Detroit. This work led to his receipt of the Arthur Johnson Leadership Award, Ralph Wadley, MD Scholarship, and the Crain's Detroit Business "Twenty in their 20's" Award. Dr. Purakal completed his emergency medicine residency at The University of Illinois - Chicago, and served as chief resident in his final year. He then started his academic career at The University of Chicago as an Assistant Professor in the Section of Emergency Medicine. 

Since joining Duke University School of Medicine, Dr. Purakal has worked to address unmet social needs in the emergency department patient population through development of a social needs screening program utilizing student volunteers and cross-sectoral collaborations with platforms such as NCCare360. He created the Health Equity Curriculum for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program, and serves multiple teaching roles within the School of Medicine, including Emergency Medicine clerkship director for the novel PIONEER curriculum. He is the physician champion for the Duke University Hospital Violence Recovery Program, and advises multiple Duke University student organizations that address health inequities in the Durham community. Finally, Dr. Purakal routinely addresses community members locally and regionally on public health topics such as gun violence and women's health, oftentimes advocating alongside local and regional elected officials and law enforcement. 

His work has been recognized through multiple departmental awards since joining Duke Emergency Medicine, including Faculty Teacher of the Year (2020), the Kathleen J. Clem Distinguished Faculty Award (2022), and the Departmental Service & Leadership Award (2025). Dr. Purakal has additionally received prestigious recognition from Duke University for his leadership, mentorship, and service, including the university's highest individual honor, the Presidential Award (2023), and the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award (2025). Regionally, he was recognized by the Triangle Business Journal with the "40 under 40" Leadership Award (2023), and nationally was the recipient of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) National Junior Faculty Teaching Award (2022). Finally, Dr. Purakal has been invited to the White House multiple times as a recognized healthcare leader in addressing social needs, health equity and health policy.