Las Vegas, NV

DeWayne M. Pursley, M.D., MPH

DeWayne M. Pursley, M.D., MPH

Associate Professor of Pediatrics 
Harvard Medical School

DeWayne Pursley, M.D., MPH, is chief of the department of neonatology and director of the Klarman Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). He is an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and associate chief of the Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) Division of Newborn Medicine. 

A graduate of Stanford University, Dr. Pursley earned his medical degree at HMS, and his master’s in public health with a concentration in health policy and management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Pursley trained in pediatrics at BCH, remaining for a fourth year as chief resident, and then completed a fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine at BIDMC, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and BCH. A member of the American Pediatric Society (APS), his scholarship and clinical work have focused on performance improvement, resource utilization and neonatal health equity. 

Dr. Pursley currently serves as chair of the board of directors of Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at BIDMC. He is the past chair of the board of directors of the American Board of Pediatrics, for which he previously served as chair of its neonatal-perinatal medicine sub-board. Having recently served as the inaugural chair of its Equity and Diversity Advisory Board, he now serves as a member of the board of directors for the Vermont-Oxford Network, a quality collaborative of more than 1,400 NICUs worldwide. He is chair of the advisory board for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) NICU Verification Program, which has recently established national standards for risk-appropriate NICU care. Active in the APS, Dr. Pursley has served on its Pediatric Policy Council and Advocacy Committee, as well as on the executive committee of the New Century Scholars mentoring program. He has previously served as a member of the NIH Advisory Council for Child Health and Human Development, as chair of the AAP Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Section, as co-chair of the AAP Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, and as a member of the Maternal-Child Health Governance Board of the American Hospital Association. 

At HMS, Dr. Pursley served as co-chair of the Task Force on Valuing Advocacy, Equity, and Social Justice and currently chairs the HMS Financial Aid Committee and is a member of the HMS Promotion and Review Board. He is the 2022 recipient of the HMS Alumni Council Distinguished Service Award and has previously been recognized by HMS with the Barbara J. McNeil Faculty Award for Exceptional Institutional Service, the Excellence in Mentoring Award, the Dean’s Community Service Award, and the Harold Amos Faculty Diversity Award. He has also previously been honored with the March of Dimes Massachusetts Chapter Franklin Delano Roosevelt Award and the BIDMC Daniel J. Jick Excellence in Leadership Award.