2023 Promotion and Tenure
Please help the department congratulate Drs. Veronica Carullo and Lakshmi Kurnutala on their academic promotions to full professor and Dr. John Adams on his academic promotion to associate professor! All three anesthesiologists have worked tirelessly in the areas of service, education, and research.
Dr. Veronica Carullo
Dr. Veronica P. Carullo, M.D. joined UMMC's Department of Anesthesiology in August of 2020 as Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics and the Director of Pediatric Pain Management. She is excited to have the opportunity to lead the expansion of services for the management of acute and chronic pain at the Children’s of Mississippi and is excited to announce the opening of the 56th Multidisciplinary Pediatric Chronic Pain Clinic in the U.S. this month at the Sanderson Tower.
After receiving her B.S. in chemistry magna cum laude from Florida International University, Miami, Dr. Carullo earned her M.D. at the University of Miami School of Medicine in 2002. She completed residency training in pediatrics from 2002-05 and then in anesthesiology from 2005-08 and was Chief Resident in anesthesiology at New York Presbyterian Hospital - Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York City. She then completed the Longwood Combined Pain Medicine Fellowship from 2008-09 at Children’s Hospital Boston, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
She spent the last 10+ years in New York as a practicing academic anesthesiologist subspecializing in pediatric anesthesiology and pediatric pain medicine. She also served as the Program Director of the Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship Program at Montefiore Medical Center. In 2020, she and her family relocated to beautiful Mississippi to be closer to family and enjoy some warmer weather together.
Dr. Carullo serves as a board examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology. She is also an active member of several professional societies, including the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Association of University Anesthesiologists, the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, the Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine, and the Society for Education in Anesthesia. Dr. Carullo serves on numerous national committees. An ad hoc reviewer for the Association of American Medical Colleges’ MedEdPORTAL publications, she has authored or coauthored twelve articles in peer-reviewed professional journals, ten book chapters, and has presented regionally and nationally.
Her research interests include pediatric sickle cell pain and outcomes in children suffering from chronic pain. She served as co-investigator for an R01 grant, “Phase 2 trial of Gamunex for sickle cell acute pain” and is currently a co-investigator for the EMBRACE (Education and Mentoring to Bring Access to Care for Sickle Cell Disease) grant.
She is excited to have joined the Departments of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and brings all of her passion for relieving pain and suffering in children to her work at the Children’s of Mississippi.
Dr. Lakshmi Kurnutala
Dr. Lakshmi Narasimhulu Kurnutala, MD, was born in India in 1979. He completed high school, college, medical school, and anesthesia residency and worked as an anesthesia attending for 2.5 years in India before moving to the USA. Dr. Kurnutala completed his anesthesia residency at New York Methodist Hospital/Weill Cornell University, Brooklyn, from 2009-2013; he was the chief resident in that program and received the best resident award for the year 2011-2012 and 2012-2013. In 2013 he also completed his fellowship in Neuroanesthesiology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus. In 2014, Dr. Kurnutala completed his Pain Medicine Fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital/Wayne State University, Detroit. Dr. Kurnutala is a diplomate in the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) in anesthesiology and pain medicine.
Dr. Kurnutala is a dedicated physician with a keen interest in patient care, medical education, and research, joined as an assistant professor and director of Neuroanesthesiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 2015.
For the last nine years, Dr. Kurnutala has implemented many protocols/guidelines to improve patient care at UMMC, like anesthesia for awake craniotomy, sitting craniotomy, deep brain stimulation, enhanced recovery after spine surgery, and enhanced recovery for kidney transplant patients. Dr. Kurnutala also completed his M.Sc. in Clinical investigation at UMMC. Dr. Kurnutala serves as a mentor for junior faculty, pain fellows, medical students, residents, and undergraduate students. He received the UMMC Trailblazer teaching award, Faculty honor roll, and Patricia Norman Faculty of the Year. Dr. Kurnutala also published many articles in renovated anesthesia journals, wrote book chapters, reviewed many articles, and is an editor for peer-reviewed journals. He also gave numerous lectures/grand rounds at national and international levels, participated in workshops, and presented multiple posters and oral presentations at national and international meetings. He is currently a member of the Society of Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and critical care (SNACC) Trainee Engagement Committee (TEC), UMMC IRB Committee, Departmental PEC, CCC, Simulation Committee, and Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology Office space committee. Dr. Kurnutala recently received Woods Library Museum Fellowship grant for his work on Neuroanesthesia.
Dr. Kurnutala has married his wife, Vanaja Parnapally, for 14 years, living with their beautiful daughter Aadhya in Madison, Mississippi. He enjoys painting, playing cricket, live sports, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
Dr. John Adams
Dr. John Adams, M.D. was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1965. He graduated from Shaw High School in 1988, and then attended Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1986, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with B.S. degree in chemistry. He completed postgraduate studies in Biochemistry for two years at The University Of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, and then completed his medical degree from The University Of Mississippi Medical Center in 1992. He then went on to his anesthesiology residency at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Adams became a partner after two years at Surgical Anesthesia Associates, PA, in Jackson, Mississippi and obtained Board certification in Anesthesiology during that time. He has also worked for River Region Medical Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi. In addition to his medical degree, he also holds an executive M.B.A. degree from Millsaps College which he obtained in 2013. He joined the UMMC attending staff in 2013 and has been doing exclusively pediatric anesthesiology for six years, obtaining pediatric anesthesia board certification in 2013. Dr. currently serves as the medical director for the children’s hospital operating rooms. He is currently doing a pediatric cardiac fellowship at Columbia University Irvine Medical Center in New York.