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WashU names Padma Gulur anesthesiology chair
The Indian American physician-scientist will take helm of the department from Aug. 1
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Anushka Pathak - Wed, 11, Feb 2026
- 11:10 EST
- 19
Padma Gulur / Courtesy: Washington University
Indian-American physician-scientist Padma Gulur has been appointed head of the Department of Anesthesiology at Washington University (WashU) School of Medicine, effective Aug. 1.
A leader in pain management, Gulur will also hold the inaugural Alex S. Evers MD Distinguished Professor in Anesthesiology position. The appointment was announced by David H. Perlmutter, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of WashU Medicine.
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Gulur joins WashU Medicine from Duke University, where she serves as interim chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, professor of anesthesiology and population health sciences, and director of pain management strategy and opioid surveillance for the Duke University Health System. She succeeds Michael S. Avidan, who has led the department since 2019.
During her interim tenure, the department expanded its clinical reach, achieved a top-five residency ranking, and secured the No. 3 position in National Institutes of Health research funding.
Throughout her career, Gulur has developed two nationally adopted care models: one to optimize postoperative and inpatient pain management while reducing opioid risks, and another community-based program to identify at-risk patients early and prevent chronic pain escalation.
Her early research led to patented technologies for safer opioid dispensing. Her current work explores alternative therapies, including green light therapy using specific light wavelengths to manage pain non-invasively.
She has also held national roles, including chair of the FDA Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, chair of the Pain Medicine Maintenance of Certification program for the American Board of Anesthesiology, and member of the American Medical Association’s CPT Editorial Panel.
“I am honored to lead the Department of Anesthesiology at WashU Medicine,” Gulur said. “The department’s strengths in clinical care, discovery, and education, combined with WashU’s deeply collaborative culture, create extraordinary opportunities for advancement.”
Perlmutter said Gulur “has made transformative contributions to pain management and, by identifying opportunities to change the trajectory of pain outcomes for patients, has developed programs to ensure access to high-quality pain treatment while minimizing the risk of opioid misuse.” He added that under her leadership, the department has “enormous potential to further advance patient care and the frontiers of medical science.”
Gulur moved to Duke in 2016 from the University of California, Irvine, where she was a professor and vice chair of anesthesiology and led a redesign of patient-centered surgical care coordination. From 2006 to 2014, she was director of pain services at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she founded a multidisciplinary care management program for children with acute or chronic pain or requiring palliative care.
She completed a pain medicine fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, after finishing her anesthesiology residency at Boston University. She earned her MBBS from Bangalore Medical College in India.
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