FAIRFAX, Va. – The Professional Pest Management Alliance announces that it has chosen Dr. Jorge Parada, medical director of the Loyola University Medical System Infection Control Program in Chicago, Ill. and an associate professor of medicine at Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine, as a medical spokesperson. In this role, Dr. Parada will assist PPMA’s media and consumer relations efforts as a medical authority in explaining the health risks posed by pests. Additionally, Dr. Parada will author columns for the consumer website PestWorld.org and offer his expertise in press releases and bylined articles.

“PPMA is thrilled to have Dr. Parada as our medical spokesperson. We are often asked about specific medical conditions and treatments as related to pests and their effects, but are not able to offer such advice. With the addition of Dr. Parada, we are able to provide not just entomological perspectives, but medical ones as well as we continue our efforts to educate the media and the public about the diseases and dangers of pests,” said Missy Henriksen, executive director of PPMA.

Dr. Parada received his Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, his Doctor of Medicine degree from Lisbon Medical School in Portugal and his Masters of Public Health from Harvard University. Dr. Parada also completed an infectious diseases fellowship at Boston University and a health services research outcomes fellowship at Rush University and Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Parada has also served as course director for the Chicago Medical Society and the Chicago Department of Public Health’s programs on emergency preparedness for bioterrorism, pandemic/avian influenza, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).