David A. Purger, MD, PhD, practices functional and restorative neurosurgery at Indiana University Health Systems and teaches at IU School of Medicine, specializing in the surgical treatment of movement disorders, epilepsy, psychiatric conditions, facial pain and peripheral nerve disorders. Dr. Purger was called to neurosurgery by a lifelong fascination with the brain and a passion for exploring the intersection between technology and the mind.
Dr. Purger was born in Senta/Zenta (Former Yugoslavia) and grew up in and around Washington, DC. He studied Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, together with Linguistics and Chinese, followed by his medical degree and neurosurgical residency and fellowship training at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
He is the Principal Investigator of the Indiana University Center on Novel Investigations of Consciousness (ICONIC), where he leads research on using neurosurgical tools to uncover mysteries of human consciousness, understand patient-specific network dysfunction to develop personalized neuromodulation strategies for psychiatric disorders and investigate the mechanisms underlying the effects of psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Outside of work, Dr. Purger enjoys media and politics, playing piano and guitar, traveling, hiking, photography and caring for his plant collection with his wife.
