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
Ream Al-Hasani, PhD
Associate Professor, Anesthesiology
Ashley DuBois, CRNA
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
Ivan Torres
Assistant Supervisor for Insurance Billing
Muthu Vijayasankar, MD
Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology
Featured Anesthesiology Department Members Archive
Kam Baggette
Nurse Practitioner
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: July 2020
Kam has been a clinical nurse coordinator for the Pain Management Center since 2005. In her role as patient advocate, she guides the patients and their families in the referral process as well as providing information on chronic pain treatment modalities. Kam also acts as a physician liaison to promote practice growth and development. As new physicians join the Pain Center, she helps to build relationships with their referring colleagues which emphasizes the attending’s interests and expertise. She is blessed with a very supportive husband, and two talented children. In her spare time she enjoys distance running, biking and swimming.
Cody Bailey, MD
Resident Physician, Class of 2027
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: January 2025
Cody is a CA-1 resident in the Department of Anesthesiology at WashU Medicine. A Southern Illinois native, he earned his bachelor’s degree in physiology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and his medical degree from the SIU School of Medicine.
In his free time, Cody enjoys swimming, playing video games, and hanging out with his cat, Iroh. A fun fact about Cody: he spent eight years coaching summer league, club, and high school swimming while completing his undergraduate and medical studies.
Amy Barrett, CRNA
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: December 2025
Amy grew up in central Illinois and received her BSN from Millikin University. After college, she moved to St. Louis where she worked at Saint Louis University Hospital in the trauma/surgical ICU. She earned her MSN from Webster University and started working for WashU Medicine as a CRNA in 2010. She floated to all of the OR pods and did OB anesthesia at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Missouri Baptist for several years before ultimately choosing POD 1 as her home. In 2022, she transferred to Barnes-Jewish West County and is one of the core CRNAs at the surgery center.
Outside of work, Amy enjoys traveling, reading, trying new restaurants, staying active, and spending time with friends and family.
Andy Benckendorf, MD
Resident Physician, Class of 2028
Department of Anesthesiology Featured Member: March 2025
Andy is currently an intern in the Department of Anesthesiology. A St. Louis native, he grew up in south city before completing both his bachelor’s degree at WashU and Medical Doctor at WashU Medicine, and joining the residency program in 2024. Andy is passionate about education and equitable access to care, himself a product of WashU’s medical education outreach programs. He is still open to many subspecialty paths, and has developed a particular interest in pediatric anesthesiology. He is certain, however, that medical education will remain a large part of his career, and is involved with projects in anesthesiology education at WashU and UM.
Outside of the hospital, Andy tries to stay active and outdoors – favorites include biking, hiking, skiing, and taking walks to look at historic architecture. He has been a member at the Missouri Botanical Gardens for two decades and religiously attends its events. Andy has 2 cats, bakes sourdough bread, and is a tea snob. He and his partner enjoy spending time with family, especially their niece and nephews.