Medical Degrees

• MBBS — Rajah Muthiah Medical College & Hospital, Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India — 1995
• MS (Orthopaedics) — Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute (Harvard Medical International Associated Institution), Chennai — 2000
• DNB (Orthopaedics / Orthopaedic Surgery) — Medical Council of India (Diplomate of National Board) — 2001

Fellowships & Special Training

• Fellowship in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery — Seoul, South Korea — 2004
• Interlaminar Percutaneous Endoscopic Cervical & Lumbar Spine Surgery — Dr. Sebastian Ruetten, St. Anna Hospital, Herne, Germany — 2013
• Advanced Endoscopic Spine Surgery — Dr. Antony Yeung (Father of Endoscopic Spine Surgery), Phoenix, USA — 2013 (Transforaminal endoscopic lumbar disc surgery, Dorsal Endoscopic Rhizotomy, Percutaneous Fusion techniques under local anaesthesia)
• Observership — Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), New York, USA — 2003
• Observership — Shriners Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, USA (Dr. Randal Betz) — 2003
• Observership — AIIMS, New Delhi (Dr. Aravind Jayaswal) — 2004
• Advanced Cadaveric Hands-on Training — Bumrungrad Hospital, Bangkok (Dr. Sebastian Ruetten) — 2017

Certifications & Accreditations

• Tamil Nadu Medical Council Registration
• Executive Committee Member — Association of Spine Surgeons of India (ASSI)
• Member — Asian Academy of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery
• Member — Indian Medical Association (IMA)
• Member — Tamil Nadu Orthopaedic Association
• Member — Orthopaedic Association of South Indian States (OASIS)

Current Affiliation

• MGM Healthcare, Nelson Manickam Road, Aminjikarai, Chennai — Director & Senior Consultant, Spine Surgery (Present)
• Dr. Karunakaran Spine Centre, Anna Nagar East, Chennai — Founder & Director (Present)

Past Affiliations

• Gleneagles Global Hospital, Chennai — Director, Institute of Advanced Spine Services (Past)
• Government General Hospital / Madras Medical College, Chennai — Contract Medical Consultant, Dept. of Orthopaedics — 2005–Present; Assistant Professor, Dept. of Orthopaedics — 2006 July (Past)
• MIOT Hospitals, Chennai — Junior Orthopaedic Consultant (Past)
• Meenakshi Mission Hospital, Madurai — Consultant Spine Surgeon — 2003–2004 (Past)

Academic & Research Roles

• Executive Committee Member — Association of Spine Surgeons of India (ASSI)
• Faculty & Teaching Faculty — multiple national and international spine surgery workshops and conferences (IOA, ASSI, India Spine Boot Camp, etc.)
• Fellowship Secretary — Tamil Nadu Orthopaedic Association — 2009
• 70th Annual Meeting of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, New Orleans, USA — 2003
• 11th Congress of International Musculoskeletal Laser Society (IMLAS), Seoul, Korea — 2004
• Spine Week, Singapore — 2016

Key Achievements

• Pioneer — Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy under local anaesthesia in Tamil Nadu
• First surgeon in South India to use INSPACE Interspinous Implant for lumbar canal stenosis
• Pioneer — 3D-printed spinal implant in Chennai
• 1,000+ spine surgeries performed including scoliosis, disc replacement, and cervical spine pathologies
• Mohandas Weller Gold Medal & Fellowship Award — Indo-German Orthopaedic Foundation — 2017