Lawrence James Purpura, MD, MPH, TM

Infectious Disease
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Overview

Dr. Lawrence Purpura’s research interests involve applied epidemiology and outbreak response. Prior to infectious diseases fellowship, he was an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he responded to the 2014-2016 West African Ebola outbreak, the 2016 Rift Valley fever outbreak in Uganda, and the 2015-2016 multi-state Seoul virus outbreak in the United States. During  his fellowship training at Columbia he was an ICAP Global HIV Implementation Science fellow and worked on a city-wide home HIV self-testing program with the NYC DOHMH, studied the prevalence of GI pathogens in a cohort of patients taking PrEP, and implemented an intervention to improve HIV and STI screening at Columbia University Medical Center. Since COVID-19, he has been involved with several COVID-19 related research activities, including the establishment of a longitudinal cohort study and acting as a co-investigator in COVID-19 vaccine and treatment trials. His clinical and research focus has been on patients suffering from Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (PASC) or Long COVID and he has made been involved in projects that aim to elucidate SARS-CoV-2 viral persistence, immunity, and clinical sequelae in convalescent patients. He has K23 funding to  evaluate the epidemiology and determinants of neurologic Post-acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 and which brings innovative approaches to this area of investigation.

Clinically, this works extends to caring for patients with Long COVID. He has worked collaboratively across the Department with colleagues from GI, Cardiology and Pulmonary Divisions and from other Departments at Columbia (Psychiatry, Neurology) with the goal of providing multidisciplinary and comprehensive care to patients experiencing long term symptoms after COVID-19 infection:  longcovidclinicmedid@cumc.columbia.edu

Academic Appointments

  • Instructor in Medicine at CUMC
  • Assistant Professor of Medicine at CUIMC

Hospital Affiliations

  • NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  • NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital

Gender

  • Male

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Insurance Accepted

Aetna

  • Aetna Signature Administrators
  • NYP Employee Plan
  • NY Signature
  • Student Health

Affinity Health Plan

  • Medicaid Managed Care

Cigna

  • EPO
  • Great West (National)
  • HMO
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • POS
  • PPO

Emblem/GHI

  • Medicare Managed Care
  • PPO

Emblem/HIP

  • ConnectiCare
  • EPO
  • Essential Plan
  • HMO
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • POS
  • PPO
  • Select Care (Exchange)
  • Vytra

Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield

  • EPO
  • Medicare Managed Care

Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HealthPlus

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Essential Plan
  • Medicaid Managed Care

Fidelis Care

  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Medicare Managed Care

Healthfirst

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Leaf (Exchange)
  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Medicare Managed Care

Local 1199

  • Local 1199

MagnaCare (National)

  • MagnaCare

Medicare

  • Railroad
  • Traditional Medicare

Multiplan

  • Multiplan

MVP Health Care

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Essential Plan
  • Medicaid Managed Care

Quality Health Management

  • Quality Health Management

RiverSpring

  • Special Needs

UnitedHealthcare

  • Compass (Exchange)
  • Empire Plan
  • HMO
  • Medicaid (Community Plan)
  • Oxford Freedom
  • Oxford HMO
  • Oxford Liberty
  • POS
  • PPO

VNSNY CHOICE

  • SelectHealth
  • Special Needs

WellCare

  • Medicare Managed Care
  • New Jersey Services (Medicaid Managed Care)

World Trade Center Health Plan

  • World Trade Center Health Plan

*Please contact the provider’s office directly to verify that your particular insurance is accepted.

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • MD, 2012 Tulane University School of Medicine
  • Residency: 2015 Tulane University Medical Center
  • Fellowship: 2020 NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Board Certifications

  • Infectious Disease

Honors & Awards

2017 CDC NCEZID Director’s group award for the Seoul virus outbreak response

2017 CDC Nakano Citation for Scientific Excellence

2017 CDC Paul C. Schnitker International Health Award for EIS officer

2016 USPHS Commissioned Corps Foreign Duty Award

2014 Interim LSU Hospital: Resident of the Year

Research

Selected Publications

  1. Blackett JW, Sun Y, Purpura L, et al. DECREASED GUT MICROBIOME TRYPTOPHAN METABOLISM AND SEROTONERGIC SIGNALING IN PATIENTS WITH PERSISTENT MENTAL HEALTH AND GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS AFTER COVID-19 [published online ahead of print, 2022 Aug 31]. Clin Transl Gastroenterol.
  2. Purpura LJ, Alukal J, Chong AM, et al. SARS-CoV-2 RNA Shedding in Semen and Oligozoospermia of Patient with Severe Coronavirus Disease 11 Weeks after Infection. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022;28(1):196-200. doi:10.3201/eid2801.211521
  3. Purpura LJ, Chang M, Annavajhala MK, et al. Prolonged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 persistence, attenuated immunologic response, and viral evolution in a solid organ transplant patient. Am J Transplant. 2022;22(2):649-653. doi:10.1111/ajt.16837
  4. Dyal J, Kofman A, Kollie JZ, Fankhauser J, Orone R, Soka MJ, Glaybo U, Kiawu A, Freeman E, Giah G, Tony HD, Faikai M, Jawara M, Kamara K, Kamara S, Flowers B, Kromah ML, Desamu-Thorpe R, Graziano J, Brown S, Morales-Betoulle ME, Cannon DL, Su K, Linderman SL, Plucinski M, Rogier E, Bradbury RS, Secor WE, Bowden KE, Phillips C, Carrington MN, Park YH, Martin MP, Del Pilar Aguinaga M, Mushi R, Haberling DL, Ervin ED, Klena JD, Massaquoi M, Nyenswah T, Nichol ST, Chiriboga DE, Williams DE, Hinrichs SH, Ahmed R, Vonhm BT, Rollin PE, Purpura LJ, Choi MJ. Risk Factors for Ebola Virus Persistence in Semen of Survivors - Liberia. Clin Infect Dis. 2022 May 27:ciac424. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac424. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35639875. (co-senior authors)
  5. Liu L, Meyers K, Purpura LJ, Nguyen N, Mohri H, Chang JY, Annavajhala MK, Lopez L 3rd, Lee SW, Shah J, Lane B, Cantos A, Tukuru SA, Guo Y, Ford K, Chiu YT, Sheng Z, Choesang T, Castor D, Wang M, Pili C, Van Hoy MN, Wallach A, Horton J, Chen Z, Rosenthal S, McLaren S, Jiang B, Wang F, Lu HH, Uhlemann AC, Ho DD, Yin MT. Development and performance of a point-of-care rapid antigen test for detection of SARS-COV-2 variants. J Clin Virol Plus. 2022 Aug;2(3):100080. doi: 10.1016/j.jcvp.2022.100080. Epub 2022 May 4. PMID: 35528048; PMCID: PMC9067019.
  6. Kyzar EJ, Purpura LJ, Shah J, Cantos A, Nordvig AS, Yin MT. Anxiety, depression, insomnia, and trauma-related symptoms following COVID-19 infection at long-term follow-up. Brain Behav Immun Health. 2021 Oct;16:100315. doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2021.100315. Epub 2021 Jul 30. PMID: 34345869; PMCID: PMC8321961.
  7. Mehta M, Purpura LJ, McConville TH, Neidell MJ, Anderson MR, Bernstein EJ, Dietz DE, Laracy J, Gunaratne SH, Miller EH, Cheng J, Zucker J, Shah SS, Chaudhuri S, Gordillo CA, Patel SR, Guo TW, Karaaslan LE, Reshef R, Miko BA, Bathon JM, Pereira MR, Uhlemann AC, Yin MT, Sobieszczyk ME. What about tocilizumab? A retrospective study from a NYC Hospital during the COVID-19 outbreak. PLoS One. 2021 Apr 8;16(4):e0249349. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249349. PMID: 33831046; PMCID: PMC8031323.
  8. Wang P, Liu L, Nair M, Yin M, Luo Y, Qang Q, Yuan T, Mori K, Solis A, Yamashita M, Purpura L, Laracy J, Yu J, Sodroski J, Huang Y, Ho D. SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibody Responses are More Robust in Patients with Severe Disease. Emerging Microbes and Infections. 2020 (Accepted)
  9. Kofman A, Linderman S, Su K, Purpura LJ, Ervin E, Brown S, Morales-Betoulle M, Graziano J, Cannon DL, Klena JD, Desamu-Thorpe R, Fankhauser J, Orone R, Moses S, Glaybo U, Massaquoi M, Nyenswah T, Nichol ST, Kollie J, Kiawu A, Freeman E, Giah G, Tony H, Faikai M, Jawara M, Kamara K, Kamara S, Flowers B, Mohammed K, Chiriboga D, Williams DE, Hinrichs SH, Ahmed R, Vonhm B, Rollin PE, Choi MJ. Characteristics of Ebola Virus Disease Survivor Blood and Semen in Liberia: Serology and Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Dec 6;73(11):e3641-e3646. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1331. PMID: 32894277.
  10. Knust B, Brown S, de St Maurice A, Whitmer S, Koske SE, Ervin E, Patel K, Graziano J, Morales-Betoulle ME, House J, Cannon D, Kerins J, Holzbauer S, Austin C, Gibbons-Burgener S, Colton L, Dunn J, Zufan S, Choi MJ, Davis WR, Chiang CF, Manning CR, Roesch L, Shoemaker T, Purpura L, McQuiston J, Peterson D, Radcliffe R, Garvey A, Christel E, Morgan L, Scheftel J, Kazmierczak J, Klena JD, Nichol ST, Rollin PE. Seoul virus infection and spread in US home-based ratteries-rat and human testing results from a multistate outbreak investigation. J Infect Dis. 2020 Jun 2:jiaa307. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa307.

PMID: 32484879

  1. Edelstein Z, Wahnich A, Purpura L, Salcuni P, Tsoi B, Kobrak P, Andaluz A, MacGregor J, Matsuki J, Katz D, Daskalakis D, Myers J. Five waves of an online HIV self-test giveaway in New York City, 2015-2018. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 2020. PMID 32149955
  2. Nyakarahuka L, de St. Maurice A,, Purpura L, el al. Prevalence and risk factors of Rift Valley fever in humans and animals from Kabale district in Southwestern Uganda, 2016. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 2018 May 3:12(5)e0006412. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006412.
  3. de St. Maurice A, Nyakarahuka L, Purpura L, el al. Rift Valley Fever: A survey of knowledge, attitudes, and practice of slaughterhouse workers and community members in Kabale District, Uganda. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 2018 Mar 5;12(3). DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006175
  4. Purpura L, Rogers E, Baller A, et al. Ebola Virus RNA in semen from an HIV-positive survivor of Ebola. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2017 APR: 23(4). DOI:http://dx/doi.org/10.3201/eid2304.161743
  5. Soka M, Choi M, Purpura L, et al. Screening of genital fluid for Ebola Virus- Author’s reply. Lancet Glob Health. 2017 Jan;5(1):e33. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(16)30290-X.
  6. Purpura L, Soka M, Baller A, et al. Implementation of a national semen testing and counseling program for male Ebola survivors—Liberia, 2015-2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65: 963-966. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6536a5.
  7. Soka M, Choi M, Baller A, White S, Rogers E, Purpura L, et al. Prevention of sexual transmission of Ebola in Liberia through a national semen testing and counseling programme for survivors: an analysis of Ebola virus RNA results and behavioral data. Lancet Global Health 2016 Oct;4(10):e736-43. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(16)30175-9.
  8. Purpura L, Choi M, Rollin P. Zika virus in semen: lessons from Ebola. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2016; 16(10):1107-8. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(16)30330-9.

de St. Maurice A, Nyakarahuka L, Purpura L,et al. Notes from the field: Rift Valley Fever outbreak in Kabale District, Uganda. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016 NOV 4;65(43):1200-1201. Doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6543a5.

  1. Purpura L, Choi M, Knust B, Rollin P. Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Highlights.  Summary of Notifiable Infectious Diseases and Conditions- United States, 2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;63:1-152 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6354a1