Michelle Burda, MLS, retired from HSLS in August. Michelle has served as Education and Health Literacy Coordinator for the Network of the National Library of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region (NNLM MAR), since 2012. In 2000, she joined the HSLS faculty as Consumer Health Librarian at UPMC Shadyside. Prior to coming to Pitt, Michelle was Medical Library Director at UPMC St. Margaret and a Medical Librarian at UPMC Passavant. Before becoming a librarian, Michelle was a Clinical Microbiologist/Medical Technologist at Passavant Hospital for more than fifteen years.
Michelle earned a BS degree in Biology from La Roche College and an MLS degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Throughout her career, she has been a tireless advocate for hospital librarians, patient educators, and patients, and an active member of the Health Care Education Association and the Medical Library Association. She developed and taught courses on health literacy and the opioid epidemic, and built partnerships with libraries, faith-based groups, community-based organizations, and emergency responders throughout our four-state NNLM region. Michelle has been a wonderful colleague at HSLS for nearly 20 years, and we wish her all the best in her well-deserved retirement.
~Kate Flewelling, NNLM Middle Atlantic Region Executive Director