Dr. Purcell was granted the honor of valedictorian for the graduating PhD class of Summer 2021 of which he was the only member of his cohort to complete the rigorous program within four years.

His dissertation was titled, The Relationship Between Electronic Health Literacy, Locus of Control, Trust in Physicians, Attitudes Towards Providers, and Medication Adherence and used a mediation analysis model for the methodology.

Dr. Purcell migrated to the United States with a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from St. George's University School of Medicine and a Bachelor degree in economics. He speaks three languages: English, Spanish, and German. One of Dr. Purcell's greatest passions is to work with underprivileged and underrepresented groups in society.

He used his practicum experience with Dr. Luther Brewster of the Green Family Foundation Neighborhood HELP Program at Florida International University to make healthcare resources more accessible to marginal communities within South Florida. Under the tutelage of Dr. Raymond Ownby (Chair of Psychiatry at NSU) he conducted a large National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study which examined the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) which sought to correct the failing memory of HIV positive persons aged 50 years and older.

Today, Dr. Purcell is conducting post graduate work as the Senior Research Coordinator for an $86 million NIH grant addressing the opioid crisis in the state of New York. He remains eternally grateful to those who have paved the way for his success and humbly remains committed to the motto of his alma mater "Non palmer sine Labore" (No reward without labor).