The Department of Anesthesiology at WashU Medicine is excited to announce the appointment of Arvind Palanisamy, MBBS, MD, FRCA, as the inaugural Vice Chair for Strategic Initiatives.
In this executive leadership role, Palanisamy will collaborate with department leadership to advance long-term goals through strategic clinician recruitment and retention, philanthropic partnerships, and innovative funding opportunities. Working closely with stakeholders across the department and the School of Medicine, he will play a key role in shaping the department’s future across its clinical, education, research, and people-centered missions.
Palanisamy serves and will continue to serve as Division Chief of Obstetric Anesthesiology and Professor of Anesthesiology and Obstetrics & Gynecology. Since joining the department in 2017, he has transformed the Division of Obstetric Anesthesiology into a nationally recognized Center of Excellence, reinvigorated the International Program for Anesthesiology Specialists, and led a successful service expansion at Missouri Baptist Medical Center. His leadership approach reflects a long-standing commitment to strategic growth and collaborative culture.
“Dr. Palanisamy has a remarkable track record of building clinical programs, recruiting talent, mentoring faculty and trainees, research excellence, and fostering collaboration across disciplines.”
Michael S. Avidan, MBBCh, FCA SA, Dr. Seymour and Rose T. Brown Professor and head of the Department of Anesthesiology
“His vision and leadership will be instrumental as we position our department for sustained growth and innovation in challenging times,” Avidan continued. “I am confident he will excel in this critically important new role.”
Palanisamy’s 25-year career as a physician scientist in academic anesthesiology was forged on three different continents. He earned his medical degree and completed his anesthesiology residency at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. He was then awarded a highly competitive postgraduate fellowship sponsored by the British Council to pursue specialist training in Anesthesiology in the United Kingdom, where he was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in 2007. Subsequently, he pursued advanced training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, where he completed fellowships in both obstetric anesthesiology and critical care medicine. There he served as the Associate Director of Obstetric Anesthesiology until we were successful in recruiting him to WashU Medicine in 2017.
Palanisamy is a successful NIH-funded physician-scientist, with an impressive track record of high-impact scientific publications. His translational research is focused on the neurodevelopmental effects of peripartum oxytocin and other drugs. His goal is to improve outcomes for both mothers and newborns.
Palanisamy is widely recognized beyond WashU Medicine for his contributions in academic medicine. He has served in the review committees of the National Institutes of Health, has held leadership roles in the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology and the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and continues to serve on the editorial boards of International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia and Anaesthesia.