Biography

Marie-Lydie Y. Pierre-Louis, MD

Chief Medical Examiner 

 

Dr. Pierre-Louis brings to the District approximately 20 years of forensic pathology experience, with licensures to practice medicine in the District of Columbia and Haiti.  She completed her fellowship with the Government of the District of Columbia, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in 1986, and was then appointed to serve as a Deputy Medical Examiner for the office, where she served in this capacity for 17 years until September of 2003.  She became the Interim Chief Medical Examiner in September 2003, Acting Chief Medical Examiner in October 2004, and was appointed to serve as the Chief Medical Examiner in January 2005.

While serving as a Deputy Medical Examiner to the District, Dr. Pierre-Louis performed over 4,000 autopsies and witnessed over 15,000 throughout her career, as well as provided expert testimony in over 400 criminal and civil cases throughout the Washington DC Metropolitan area.

As a medical professional and a public servant to the constituents of the District of Columbia, Dr. Pierre-Louis actively pursues opportunities with other District Government entities that enable the agency to provide services and participate in programs that will aid in the District’s goal to reduce crime and educate youth throughout the city.  For example, Dr. Pierre-Louis has lead the agency in participating in programs such as Career Day 2004 (sponsored by the Friendship Edison Public School Charter), Operation Prevent Auto Theft (OPAT--sponsored by the Metropolitan Police Department), the Youth Supported Employment Program (YSEP--sponsored by DC Department of Mental Health) and the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine.

In her previous roles as the Interim and Acting Chief Medical Examiner, as well as, in her current role as Chief Medical Examiner, she enthusiastically assumes the responsibility of providing administrative oversight to the Domestic Violence Review Board (for which she played an integral role in its establishment), the Mental Retardation and Developmentally Disabled Fatality Review Committee (of which she serves as co-chair), and the Child Fatality Review Committee, all of which involve our city’s most vulnerable populations.  Through the hard work of these committees, Dr. Pierre-Louis is committed to making a difference and improving the quality of life of these vulnerable populations.

Dr. Pierre-Louis has current professional affiliations with the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME), the International Association of Pathologists, and with the Friends of Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP).

Dr. Pierre-Louis obtained her Medical Degree at the Medical School of the State University of Haiti in 1974.   She completed her residencies at the State University Hospital in Port-au-Prince Haiti and at Howard University Hospital in Washington DC.  Her fellowships include Gastro-Enterology at Klinikum Charlottenburg, Freie Universitat (Germany) and in Forensic Pathology at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Washington DC.

She regularly provides educational lectures and presentations to various professional entities locally. In addition, her most recent international lecture was presented in Barcelona, Spain, discussing the forensic pathology of gunshot wound deaths.

Dr. Pierre-Louis has been married for 25 years, has 3 children, and lives in Washington, DC.