Dr. Denara Pel in 2372
Holographic representation of a healthy Denara Pel
Doctor Denara Pel was a Vidiian female hematologist who lived during the mid-24th century.
Pel had an uncle named Shmullus, who used to make her laugh. Pel later contracted the Phage at age seven and began receiving replacement tissue at that time.
While returning from Fina Prime in 2372, where she was helping to treat an outbreak of the phage, she began suffering effects associated with the advanced stages of the disease, leading to a degredation of her neural patterns. She sent out a distress call, which was responded to by the USS Voyager. She was promptly beamed aboard.
In an attempt to save Pel's life, The Doctor put her body into stasis and transferred her brain patterns into a holographic body to prevent the collapse of her mind, giving him time to come up with an alternative treatment. Taking advantage of the time this allowed him, the Doctor convinced B'Elanna Torres to donate some of her Klingon tissue, previously proven at least partially resistant to the Phage, to be grafted onto Pel's brain and hopefully cure the damage done by the disease.
While Pel and the Doctor waited to see if the procedure worked, they developed feelings for each other; Pel even took to calling the Doctor 'Shmullus', after her uncle, one of the few names he used more than once. Initially, Pel was reluctant to begin a relationship, and rejected the Doctor's initial advances, but after Pel had talked with Kes and the Doctor had taken relationship advice from Tom Paris, the two of them gave it another shot and began a relationship.
The procedure to cure Pel's damaged brain tissue proved a success, but she was reluctant to return to her ravaged body and she tried to sabotage the procedure. Ultimately the Doctor did convince her to return to her body and continue her work in finding a cure for the Phage, subsequently sharing a dance with her on the holodeck in Sandrine's before she had to depart. (VOY: "Lifesigns")
- It is later implied, based on a comment of the Doctor's in "Message in a Bottle," that the Doctor and Denara actually had sex during their relationship, as the Doctor comments that he has engaged in sexual activity while talking with the EMH Mark II, and Denara is the only woman who was shown to have been involved with the Doctor in that sense.
Later that year, the Doctor contacted her for information on a poisonous insect that had infected Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay. She managed to get the cure to him, even though her superiors tried to attack Voyager, calling him 'Schmullus' once more before they parted ways for good as Voyager fled the attack. (VOY: "Resolutions")
- Denara Pel was played by actress Susan Diol.