Our success is intimately linked to the accomplishments of each and every member of our department.
Each month, four members are nominated and featured to celebrate their commitment to patient care, education, and research.
Current Featured Anesthesiology Department Members
Catherine Gould, PA-C
Physician Assistant
Parita Jani, MD
ACTA Fellow
Sherry McKinnon
Manager of Clinical Research, Regulatory and Compliance
Andrew Schaffer, MD
Resident Physician
Featured Anesthesiology Department Members Archive
Menelaos Karanikolas, MD, MPH
POD 5 Leader; Professor, Anesthesiology
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: August 2024
Menelaos Karanikolas is Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and works mostly in POD 5 and in the Division of Trauma Anesthesiology. He was born and raised in Athens, Greece, and obtained his MD from the University of Athens School of Medicine. He then completed his anesthesiology residency, cardiothoracic anesthesia fellowship, and pain management fellowship at WashU Medicine and received an MPH degree from the St. Louis University School of Public Health. He has practiced cardiac anesthesia in Athens, Greece, pain management at WashU Medicine, and had a faculty appointment at the University of Patras, Greece, before returning to WashU Medicine in 2010. He met Areti, his wife, while in medical school, got married during residency, and he is now the proud father of three daughters and one son.
In his free time, he enjoys playing chess, watching European basketball, and listening, DJ-ing, and dancing to Argentine Tango music.
Fun fact: Menelaos has studied Argentine Tango for several years, is a founding member of a non-profit dedicated to promoting Argentine Tango in the St. Louis area, and enjoys opportunities to dance while traveling out of state or overseas.
Clayton Karimi, CRNA
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: May 2023
Clayton Karimi is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. He graduated from Goldfarb’s Nurse Anesthesia Program in 2014 and thereafter accepted a position with the Department of Anesthesia. Clayton works primarily with the Acute Critical Care and Trauma Service. He appreciates the variety that this offers and the comradery amongst the team. Having the ability to offer clinical support for this patient population is a privilege that Clayton enjoys. Outside of the hospital, Clayton spends his time with his wonderful family – his wife, Melissa, and their two beautiful daughters, Layla and Lillian. They love traveling the country in an RV; last year, they visited five national parks and spent a total of three months traveling. Clayton is also an avid fisherman who thoroughly enjoys his time on the water.
Monica Keeline, MD
Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: October 2019
Monica began working for the Department of Anesthesiology last year at Barnes Jewish West County Hospital. She completed her residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School in 2014 and spent several years in private practice before joining the department. She is a St. Louis native, married, and has 3 wonderful children. Monica is an avid reader, although her reading list these days consists largely of Dr. Seuss, Richard Scarry, and superhero books!
Summer Kelly
Clinical Operations Assistant, Pediatric Anesthesiology
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: September 2024
Summer is a Clinical Operations Assistant for the Division of Pediatric Anesthesiology. Prior to joining the division, she worked with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and has a bachelor’s degree in geography. She also spent some time as an Operations Assistant at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. As a Clinical Operations Assistant, she creates the daily OR schedule, coordinates observers in the OR, tracks resident assignments, assists with new employee onboarding, maintains essential departmental documentation, oversees multiple doctors’ schedules, handles weekly staffing, and ensures access to scrubs and lockers. She is a Virgo and enjoys being organized! Her favorite parts of her job are being able to help people get the information they are looking for, coordinating the schedule in a way that benefits the learners, and working with the amazing pediatric anesthesia team! Summer is passionate about creating efficient workflows that enhance our department’s operations and looks forward to continuing to contribute in this way.
Summer was born and raised in Granite City, Illinois. She is married to her husband Richie, and they have a baby girl due in December. They have two dogs, Juke (Airedale terrier + Irish wolfhound mix) and Ranger (beagle + pit mix), that they adopted and love very much! She loves to travel to new places with her husband, participate in jiu-jitsu and Pilates, hike, cook and spend time with her friends and family.
Fun fact: She has her blue belt! Summer has been doing jiu jitsu for almost four years and has competed multiple times. Her husband is a brown belt and competes as well.