Internal Medicine Chattanooga Faculty

Harish Manyam, MD
Interim Chair, Department of Medicine
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
Erlanger Chief of Cardiology
Harish.Manyam@erlanger.org

Dr. Manyam received his training at Case Western Reserve University Hospitals (2012-2014) and stayed there as faculty and Assistant Professor of Medicine from 2013-2016. He served as the Head of the Lead Extraction Program at University Hospitals Case Western Reserve prior to joining the UT Cardiology group.

Dr. Manyam currently holds the position of Interim Chair for the UT College of Medicine - Chattanooga.  He is also Chief of Cardiology at Erlanger. Dr. Manyam is actively involved with multiple research trials including monitoring the recurrence of atrial fibrillation, optimizing programing options in patients with biventricular defibrillators, and the assessment of lead extraction risk.

He has extensive experience in complex ablation (atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia), laser lead extraction, and device implantation.

Education and Credentials:  

MD:  American University - Netherland Antilles
Residency: Internal Medicine - Allegheny General Hospital - Pittsburgh, PA
Fellowship:  Cardiovascular Disease - Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA
Fellowship:  Electrophysiology - Case Western Reserve University Hospitals,
                    Cleveland, OH

Clinical Interests:

• AFib
• Electrophysiology
• Complex Ablation (Atrial Fibrillation and Ventricular Tachycardia)
• Laser Lead Extraction

• Hometown: Louisville, KY
• Medical School: University of Kentucky
• Residency: University of Kentucky (Internal Medicine/Pediatrics)
• Interests: Medical Education, Advocacy, Parasitology

Dr. Cary is from Louisville, KY and attended Western High School located in southwest Louisville. He attended Western Kentucky University for undergraduate studies majoring in history and biology. He attended medical school at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. He completed a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics serving as chief resident during his final year and subsequently served as chief resident of pediatrics following his MedPeds residency training. He worked for UKHealthcare from 2008 - 2017 serving in many roles including MedPeds residency program director and as Master Educator. Dr. Cary joined Erlanger Health System in the spring of 2017 and assumed the program director role for Internal Medicine the following year. His clinical time is split between hospital medicine for both internal medicine and pediatrics. When not at work, Dr. Cary spends time with his family, participating in global health brigades to South America, and going to Disney World

• Hometown: 
• Medical School: Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Residency: University of Tennessee College of Medicine - Chattanooga (Internal Medicine)
• Practice:  General Internal Medicine and Hospitalist Medicine

Dr. Tudor trained at the UT College of Medicine - Chattanooga and completed the three-year Internal Medicine Residency at the end of June, 2006.  She remained in the Chattanooga area to practice as a Hospitalist.  She has served as an active member of the faculty and advisor to numerous residents in the program..  As of July 1, 2024, Dr. Tudor has assumed the position of Associate Program Director for our Internal Medicine Residency.  We are look forward to her growing role in this primary care residency. 

Kiriti Vattikonda, DO
Instructor/Administrative Chief Resident
Department of Medicine
email: kiriti.vattikonda@erlanger.org
Academic Department Phone:  423.778.2998 

Dr. Vattikonda joined the Internal Medicine Residency Program on July 1, 2024, following completion of his Internal Medicine Residency at the Carilion Clinic - Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Program on June 30, 2024.  We are pleased to welcome him as our new faculty member -- Instructor/Administrative Chief Resident for our Internal Medicine Program.

Dharmendra Patel, MD
Program Director, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine

Dharmendra Patel, M.D. is the Program Director for our Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship and leader in the Erlanger Heart and Lung Institute. He is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease and specializes in general cardiology and multimodality cardiovascular imaging. Dr. Patel received his medical degree from the Government Medical College in India and completed an internal medicine residency and cardiovascular disease fellowship at Ochsner Clinic Foundation. Prior to joining Erlanger, Dr. Patel served as chief cardiology fellow during his fellowship training at Ochsner.

Dr. Patel's specialties include:

Cardiovascular Disease
Adult Comprehensive Echocardiography
Nuclear Cardiology

Education/Credentials:

Medical Degree:  Government Medical College
Residency: Ochsner Clinic Foundation (Internal Medicine)
Fellowship:  Ochsner Clinic Foundation (Cardiovascular Disease))

Arslan Kahloon, MD
Program Director, Gastroenterology Fellowship
Associate Professor,  Department of Medicine

Radhika Shah, MD
Program Director, Pulmonary/Critical Care Fellowship
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
email:  Radhika.Shah@erlanger.org 
Academic Department Phone:  423.778.2998

• Hometown: Warwick, NY
  Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
  Residency: Yale New Haven Hospital (Internal Medicine)
  Fellowship: University of Maryland Medical Center Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship
  Interests: Medical Education, Point of Care Ultrasound, Simulation

Dr. Shah grew up in upstate New York close to New Jersey and just outside of New York City. She Then attended the College of New Jersey and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Where she completed a combined 7 year BA/MD program with a major in biology and minor in finance. She subsequently completed her Internal Medicine residency where her interest in medical education began. During her Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Her scholarly activity focused on simulation curriculum and she served as chief fellow her last year for educational activities.

Dr. Shah joined Erlanger Health System in the fall of 2017. Her clinical responsibilities include Medical Intensive Care Unit, Pulmonary outpatient clinic, and Pulmonary inpatient consult service. She joined the UTCOM Chattanooga Internal Medicine Residency program as Associate Program Director in the summer of 2018 where she focused on simulation curriculum, point of care, ultrasound education, ICU education, and residency evaluation process.

She has now been appointed as the Program Director for our new Pulmonary/Critical Care Fellowship (3 years for graduates of an Internal Medicine Residency), sponsored by our Internal Medicine Residency Program.  She led efforts to establish the new program and was awarded Initial Accreditation and approved for 2 Fellows at each level of training from the Internal Medicine RRC as of January 19, 2024.  The program will be recruiting in the late summer 2024 for the first two fellows to begin training July 1, 2025.

When Dr. Shah is not working she loves to cook, spend time with her family, watch movies, run, and listen to new music.

Patrick Koo, MD
Clerkship Director, Department of Medicine (Medical and PA Students)
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine 
Specialty:  Respirator, Pulmonary, and Critical Care

Dr. Patrick Koo, fellowship trained pulmonologist, is the Internal Medicine Clerkship Director for the Department of Medicine and oversees third and fourth year medical students rotating in required rotations in Internal Medicine and its subspecialties.

He is now accepting patients at UT Erlanger Respiratory and Critical Care. Dr. Koo received his medical degree at Ross University School of Medicine and completed his residency at the University of Connecticut Health Center before completing Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship training at Brown University. He specializes in research and treatment of sleep disorders, lung cancer, diaphragm disease, asthma, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, (COPD). Dr. Koo also serves as Medical Director of Erlanger's Pulmonary Function Lab.

Education/Credentials:

• MD:  Ross University School of Medicine, Dominica, West Indies
• Residency:  University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT
• Clinical and Research Fellowships:  Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI

Clinical Interests:

• Sleep Disorders
• Lung Cancer
• Diaphragm Disease
• Asthma
• COPD