David E. Persse, M.D.

Physician Director
Emergency Medical Services
City of Houston

Public Health Authority
Department of Health & Human Services
City of Houston

Dr. Persse's career in medicine started with ten years experience as a field paramedic and paramedic instructor in upstate New York and New Jersey. After receiving his pre-med training at Columbia University in New York, he then attended Georgetown University School of Medicine. Graduating with honors in emergency medicine from Georgetown, Dr. Persse then completed residency training in emergency medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California.

After residency, Dr. Persse completed a resuscitation research fellowship at the Ohio State University. Dr. Persse was then awarded a grant from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and completed fellowship training in emergency medical services and resuscitation at the Baylor College of Medicine and the City of Houston Emergency Medical Services program. Following his EMS fellowship Dr. Persse became the Assistant Medical Director for the Emergency Medical Services system of Houston. He then moved to California to become the Medical Director of the Los Angeles County Paramedic Training Institute, and the Assistant Medical Director of the Los Angeles County EMS Agency.

In 1996 Dr. Persse returned to Houston to assume the role of the Director of Emergency Medical Services for the City of Houston. In May of 2004 he was appointed by City Council as Houston’s Public Health Authority. In his role as Public Health Authority Dr. Persse is responsible for the medical aspects of clinical care quality management, disease control and public health preparedness. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the South East Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council and the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

Catherine Troisi, PhD

Dr. Catherine Troisi is Director of Public Health Practice at the Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS). Her office has responsibility for policy development, research collaborations with academic institutions, promotion of public health education for staff, and preparing for the forthcoming health department accreditation process. She has further responsibilities in Public Health Preparedness.

Previously, she was Assistant Director of HDHHS, overseeing the Disease Prevention and Control Division, including Bureaus of HIV/STD Prevention, Immunizations, TB Control, Jail Health, Health Promotion and Education, and the Area Agency on Aging. She is adjunct faculty at both Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH), serving on graduate student committees and lecturing in epidemiology courses. Dr. Troisi received a B.A. in chemistry from the University of Rochester, M.S. in biochemistry from Michigan State University and doctorate in epidemiology from the University of Michigan, where internationally known influenza experts, Drs. John Maassab and Arnold Monto, served as her advisors.

Prior to joining the health department, Dr. Troisi was on the faculty in the Division of Molecular Virology and Microbiology at BCM for 14 years and UTSPH for seven years. Her research focused on viral hepatitis and HIV, including diagnostic and vaccine evaluation studies. Additionally, she managed a clinical hepatitis and HIV reference laboratory.