Karla Buru was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in July 2023 as the designee for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), where she serves as Chief of Staff, assisting the agency director with budgeting, strategies, agency initiatives, and the execution of special projects.

Dr. Buru has more than a decade of experience in public health and health care settings, having served in various leadership roles in quality improvement, governance, project management and strategic planning. She is well-versed in accreditation requirements and standards set forth by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care and the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) and has provided leadership direction to organizations in acquiring and maintaining their accreditation. She also holds a holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and is a certified Project Management Professional and graduate of the South Carolina Certified Public Manager Program.

Dr. Buru holds a doctorate degree in public health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she was inducted into the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health. She also holds a master’s degree in social work, and master’s degree in public health from the University of South Carolina, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications. Dr. Buru also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Romania, where she later returned as a Fulbright Scholar in Research.