Faculty

W. Michael Bullock, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor at Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC. He graduated in 2010 with an MD and PhD from the University of New Mexico and completed a residency and fellowship in regional anesthesiology at Duke University Hospital in 2015. He remained on staff at Duke where he is currently director of resident education for the regional anesthesiology rotation and assistant program director for the Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship. His research interests include ultrasound-guided nerve blockade, tourniquet hypertension, gastric ultrasound, and trainee education.

David Creighton, MD, MS, has clinical interests and areas of expertise in regional anesthesia, perioperative pain management, and ambulatory and orthopedic anesthesia. He currently works at the University of North Carolina, where he practices in both academic and community settings. He completed his medical degree at Columbia University, his anesthesiology residency at Stanford University, and his fellowship training in regional anesthesia at Duke University. He is originally from Vancouver, Canada.

Lt. Col. Sandeep Dhanjal, MD, is an assistant professor of anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and the 193rd Special Operations Medical Group, in Raleigh, NC. Since enlisting in the military in 2002, Dr. Dhanjal has dedicated his career to supporting those who sacrifice for others. He discovered that medicine—and specifically anesthesiology with a focus on acute pain medicine—offered the greatest opportunity to fulfill this mission while addressing the critical needs of wounded service members. After completing a fellowship in regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he served in humanitarian and combat deployments and recently was selected for an austere surgical team. He now continues this commitment as a faculty physician at UNC, where his practice centers on trauma, burn resuscitation, and acute pain management.

Derek Dillane, MB BCh, FCARCSI, is an associate professor at University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, where he completed a clinical and research fellowship in regional anesthesia in 2006. His clinical research interests involve the use of ultrasound in regional anesthesia with a particular focus on education and training techniques. He has taught and led numerous ultrasound workshops in North America and internationally. He is a past chair of the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society Regional Anesthesia Section. 

Sean Dobson, MD, PhD, is an associate professor of anesthesiology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in the division of regional anesthesia and acute pain management. He is a former Navy anesthesiologist who was deployed to Afghanistan as a part of a forward surgical team in 2012. He has been awarded a Golden Apple Award as the best faculty teacher by the residents at Wake Forest University.

Jeff Gadsden, MD, is a professor of anesthesiology and chief of the division of Regional anesthesiology at Duke University in Durham, NC. His research interests lie in the efficacy of peripheral nerve blockade for acute postoperative pain control, research into educational methods for teaching regional anesthesia procedures, and the safe provision of regional anesthesia in the trauma setting. He received his MD from Queens University, and completed his residency at Columbia University.

Stuart Grant, MBChB, MMCI, graduated from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and trained in anesthesiology in Glasgow before taking an appointment in the Department of Anesthesiology at Duke University in 2002. He earned his master’s in Clinical Informatics Management while at Duke University. He is now chief of the Division of Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has multiple publications on the use of regional anesthesia in major joint replacement, and in ambulatory surgery. His textbook Ultrasound Guided Regional Anesthesia is now in its second edition. Dr. Grant currently serves on ASRA Pain Medicine Board of Directors and its CME Committee. 

James Krakowski, MD, FASA, is an associate professor of anesthesiology, regional anesthesia, and general anesthesia at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. He completed his anesthesiology residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a fellowship in regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine at UNC. He currently serves on the regional anesthesia faculty at UNC and has authored publications on peripheral nerve blockade of the upper extremity and trunk, ultrasonography, and perioperative pain management.

Amanda Kumar, MD, is an associate professor of anesthesiology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. She is the program director for the Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine fellowship, GME simulation liaison for Duke's Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center, and a member of Duke’s perioperative leadership group. Dr. Kumar received her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University. She completed her anesthesiology residency at Stanford where she was chief resident, followed by a fellowship in regional and ambulatory anesthesia at Duke.

Monika Nanda, MBBS, MPH, is a professor of anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Nanda directs the regional anesthesiology fellowship at UNC and leads education in residency and fellowship. She organizes cadaveric courses in Ultrasound Guided Regional Anesthesia and teaches extensively at workshops and conferences. Her research focuses on clinical outcomes, simulation, educational methods in anesthesia, and quality improvement. She holds key roles in ASRA Pain Medicine and UNC School of Medicine committees.

Andres Rojas, MD, is an assistant professor of anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine at Chapel Hill. He received his MD from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and completed his residency at UNC. He is the assistant director of the regional anesthesia and pain medicine fellowship, director of the regional anesthesia resident rotation, and director of the perioperative POCUS medical student rotation. His research interests include quality improvement, regional anesthesia, and medical education assessment tools.

Bryant Tran, MD, FASA, is an associate professor of anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. He earned his MD at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, and completed a residency at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He completed his fellowship in regional anesthesiology at Stanford University in Stanford, CA. Dr. Tran is the director of the Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship Program at UNC. Before coming to UNC, Dr. Tran was the division chief and fellowship program director for Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a question writer for the American Board of Anesthesiology, and he serves as a peer reviewer for over a dozen different medical journals, including Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine. He is a member of the ASRA Pain Medicine Faculty Development Committee.