Confounders versus Mediators: An Important Distinction.

Dr. Karthik Raghunathan is an Associate Professor with Tenure in the Department of Anesthesiology, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Population Health Sciences, at the Duke University School of Medicine and is a Staff Physician at the Durham Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. He is co-director of the Critical care And Perioperative population hEalth Research (CAPER) Program. 

In addition to clinical practice as an anesthesiologist and intensive care physician, Dr. Raghunathan is an epidemiologist and health services researcher with over $2 Million in funding from Federal, Industry, and Non-Profit entities since 2015. He co-directs the Critical care and Perioperative Population Health Research (CAPER) program, generating and disseminating evidence to inform clinical practice guidelines.

His studies focus on: a) the comparative effectiveness and safety of procedures and medications used for acute postoperative pain management, fluid resuscitation during surgery and intensive care; b) the implementation and effectiveness of nonpharmacologic treatments, such as music medicine and peripheral neuromodulation, and c) reducing race, sex, and income-based inequities in treatments and outcomes.

Dr. Raghunathan collaborates with colleagues within Duke, as well as colleagues at Academically affiliated other VA Healthcare Systems. He welcomes collaboration and can be reached at kr118@duke.edu. 

Clinical and research interests are Enhanced Recovery and Perioperative Medicine; with particular interests in fluid management, and perioperative optimization of the high-risk non-cardiac surgery patient.