Phillip D. Purdy, M.D. was born in Chillicothe, Missouri in 1951. He received his medical degree from the University of Missouri in 1978 and completed his internship in medicine at the University of Missouri Medical Center in 1979. Dr. Purdy completed residency programs in neurology and diagnostic radiology at Parkland Memorial Hospital and UT Health Science Center at Dallas from 1979 to 1985. The latter included fellowship training in neuroradiology. Dr. Purdy has held the position of Director of Neuroradiology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas since 1985. He holds the appointments of Professor (tenured) of Radiology and Associate Professor (tenured) of Neurological Surgery and is the holder of the Orien & Jack Woolf, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Neurosurgery & Neuroangiography. His area of interest is interventional neuroradiology. He is currently involved in research using a model to study spinal cord injury and potential therapeutic interventions using intraspinal navigation as a route of access for cerebral surgery.