He received a Bachelor of Arts degree (summa cum laude) in English from the University of Michigan in 1982 and earned his M.D.

[3][4] Markel's argument about the tension between isolating disease and the potential for social scapegoating[5] acquired new urgency during the 2014 Ebola epidemic.

[6] When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears They Have Unleashed expands the scope of Quarantine!

Having treated patients with various forms of substance abuse, Markel thought that sharing Freud and Halsted's struggles (both personal and scientific) with cocaine would raise awareness of the perniciousness of addiction while illuminating an important chapter in medical history.

Discussing his work with Science Friday's Ira Flatow, Markel said "they were so compelling, and I thought using their lives and their struggles I could really put a human face on this terrible disease.

Markel's latest book, The Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick and the Discovery of DNA’s Double Helix, was published by W.W. Norton and Company in September 2021.

[citation needed] From 2005 to 2006, Markel served as a historical consultant on pandemic influenza preparedness planning for the United States Department of Defense.

He and a team of researchers at the Center for the History of Medicine collaborated with the CDC to publish a digital encyclopedia of the 1918 influenza pandemic, the largest available digital collection of materials pertaining to the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century and one of the largest collections of historical documents ever assembled on a single epidemic.

"[18] Markel additionally sought to enhance public understanding of the Ebola outbreak through op-eds for Reuters Opinion[19] and The New Republic.

[20] He is best known for working with Martin Cetron at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and having co-developed the evidence base of the concept of "flattening the curve," a means of social distancing that saved millions of lives around the globe during the first wave of COVID-19.

This work was widely covered in newspapers and media around the world, including an "Annals of Medicine" article that appeared in "The New Yorker" on August 6, 2020.