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DHANIREDDY TO LEAD NEONATOLOGY AT UTHSC

            Memphis, Tennessee (July 20, 2005) – Ramasubbareddy Dhanireddy, MD, has been named neonatology division chief and the Sheldon B. Korones Professor in Neonatology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC).

 In that role, he will run a UT Medical Group practice unit and will become medical director of The Sheldon B. Korones Newborn Center at The Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The MED), which is the state’s designated regional perinatal center.  He will also have oversight of neonatal care at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center and the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Methodist South Hospital.

Previously the neonatology division chief at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center for six years, Dr. Dhanireddy feels confident that this collaboration will continue the University Medical Center Alliance’s goal of improving the health of patients in the Memphis community.

He commented, “We will be able to impact neonatal care for the large population of the Memphis metro area in a coordinated fashion at the UT Health Science Center.”  “Through our work together, we will have enhanced operations in terms of clinical care, teaching and research,” said Dr. Dhanireddy.

He also plans to address the problem of high infant mortality in Memphis by increasing the neonatal research conducted here.  “Babies are 100 percent of our future… we need to do everything we can with the help of the community around us to make progress in infant mortality,” he said.

Additionally, Dr. Dhanireddy commented on how honored he is to be given an opportunity to work with Sheldon B. Korones, MD, the namesake of the Newborn Center.

A retired Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Dr. Dhanireddy was honored with the Legion of Merit Award and a Meritorious Service Medal for his devotion to improving the human research program in the U.S. Air Force. He was also honored with two Meritorious Service Medals for his research in newborns. He has served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve since 1997.

Dr. Dhanireddy completed his pediatric residency at Louisiana State University Medical Center’s Lafayette Charity Hospital, followed by a fellowship in neonatology from Georgetown University Medical Center, where he also served as a professor of pediatrics. He completed a fellowship in research with the National Institutes of Health.

 

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