PL-3 Residents

Pulak, Agrawal, MD

Medical School: Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences

Bio:  I am happy that you considered Southern Illinois University for Pediatrics!  I was born and raised in India and finished medical school there before joining SIU for my residency. It was a warm and friendly transition for me. I knew I wanted to be a doctor since high school and chose to be a Pediatrician in my third year of medical school. I am glad I made this decision till date and I want to be a Neonatologist when I "grow up". I love exploring coffee shops in any town I visit.  My wallet has about 3-4 punch rewards cards from different cafes in the area at any given time J I love to cook, swim and recently have been obsessed with Ted Talks! Reading fiction, especially mysteries used to be one of my other hobbies, before medical school, residency and life happened.  I cook decent Indian food and I am a food lover just like the rest of my classmates.

Joseph Dario, MD

Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine

Bio:  I grew up around DC and have been out in the Midwest since college. I will be going into pediatric critical care medicine after residency. Outside of work, I enjoy coffee and music.

Vineeta Kanbur, MD

Medical School: Grant Medical College

Bio:  I wanted to be a doctor since I was in kindergarten, and have always idolized my Pediatrician. I attended medical School in Mumbai, India. I chose to do my residency at SIU because it is a close knit program, which means dibs on procedures, more one-on-one time with attendings, and the faculty know us very well & are hence extremely involved in our education and professional development. I'm a foodie and one of the first things I look up when traveling to a new place is restaurants! My hobbies are trying new cuisines (no surprises there), listening to music, and traveling.

Reema Mathanda, MD

Medical School: Kasturba Medical College, Manipal

Bio:  I moved here from southern part of India for residency. I realized during my medical school training that Pediatrics was one area I could continue to be myself (involves me being a goofball) and be a part of taking care of what I think is the greatest cohort of people under the sun. My drive is my passion for this field, and there has never been a question about looking back even during the worst days. Apart from loving what I do for work, I enjoy comedy (all forms of it), would never say no to Asian and Indian cuisine, love traveling and since I am starting to rediscover my love for hiking. I look forward to my next journey which involves moving to Cleveland for a Hematology/oncology fellowship.

Dhanya Panicker, MD

Medical School: T.D. Medical College, Alappuzha

Bio:  I am a third year pediatric resident. I come from the southern part of India, called Kerala. I came to Springfield for my residency and fell in love with the small town feel and the Midwestern hospitality. My husband is also a physician and we have a 4 year old son.  Together, we are able to find a good work life balance that is difficult to find in larger cities. We are good foodies and we love travelling to check out different cuisines. Pediatrics has always amazed me, especially the change in pathology among different age levels. I enjoy the interactions with the kids and the close relationship that we make with family and this is one of the reasons I chose to continue my career in Primary care pediatrics. I want to be an advocate for kids and help them mold in to a compassionate human being.

Ira Shukla, MD

Medical School:  Grant Medical College

Bio:  I am so glad you decided to look at SIU Pediatrics. I am a third year chief resident here. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. Firstly I am a huge Food enthusiast and work part time as the human version of Yelp for my classmates. I absolutely love hanging out with my friends, especially exploring new coffee shops and restaurants. I am also a great cook and love to cook Indian food. However, the favorite part of my day is when I am taking care of the cutest creations of god- the kids. Well, mostly because I can be a 6 year old at work and it's absolutely okay because, hey, who's judging??

Xin “Cathy” Yu, MD

Medical School:  Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

Bio:  I pretty much grew up in Springfield, IL. I went to U of I in Urbana-Champaign, and then SIU-SOM for medical school and residency. Although Springfield is small, it has developed greatly since I was young, and has many unique restaurants and cafes. My interests include eating, coffee, and traveling, as well as hanging out with my fellow residents