Robert Harry Purcell[1] (born 19 December 1935 in Iowa, United States) is an American virologist and former co-chief of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

[5] In 1998, he was granted the King Faisal Prize along with John L. Gerin for "Control of Communicable Diseases".

[4] In 1973, Purcell, Albert Kapikian, and Stephen Feinstone discovered and characterized hepatitis A virus.

[4] In 1978, Purcell showed that hepatitis C virus is transmissible through blood, and that it remains in the body for life.

Michael Houghton's laboratory at Chiron Corporation ultimately identified the agent associated with NANBH, now known as Hepatitis C, in 1989.