Alixandra Purakal, MD is a breast imager in the community division of Duke Health. She is originally from Southeast, MI. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan studying History of Art and Women's Studies. She then went on to medical school at Wayne State University, in Detroit. Next, she completed her diagnostic radiology residency at the University of Chicago, where she also served as chief resident during her fourth year. Watching her two aunts simultaneously battle breast cancer contributed to her passion for women's health, which she has been actively pursuing since the beginning of her training. Thus, she stayed on for another year to complete a fellowship in Breast Imaging at the University of Chicago. She has come to recognize that it is of equal importance to make the correct diagnosis in the reading room as it is to be able to communicate the findings with patience and empathy. Having witnessed the diagnosis of breast cancer from both the patient and physician standpoint, she knows the importance of the humanistic as well as scientific attributes of women’s imaging.

Her husband John, is an emergency medicine physician at Duke. They are very much enjoying their new life in the Triangle area. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, reading, yoga, and trying new cuisines.