Prior to her White House detail, Dr. Purser served within CAPE as a senior program analyst and adviser to the Secretary of Defense: leading and directing evaluations of science, space, health IT, and C4 programs, as well as chemical/ biological defense, counter-terrorism, and homeland defense programs.  She came to the Pentagon in 2011 as the special assistant to the Director of CAPE.  Before that, she worked for multiple Members of Congress as a seven-year Capitol Hill staffer for health, science, and energy policy.  Additionally, she has worked for a nonprofit advocacy organization, Research America, that teaches scientists and engineers how to effectively advocate and message to Congress and other decision makers.  She founded and owns a consultancy as a scientific writer.

Dr. Purser earned a PhD in molecular microbiology from the University of Texas and completed undergraduate studies at Georgia Tech.  Her life’s mission is to do good for scientists.  She lives in the Washington, DC, area with her husband and two children.