Dr. Dheera Ananthakrishnan is an orthopaedic spine surgeon, academic leader, and global health entrepreneur with more than two decades of clinical, academic, and operational leadership experience. She is currently a consultant with GIST Consulting in Beverly Hills, California, where she provides medicolegal case review, expert witness analysis, and strategic clinical consulting for healthcare, medical device, and health technology enterprises. 

From 2007 to 2023, Dr. Ananthakrishnan served as Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she built a robust spine deformity practice performing approximately 200 complex surgical cases annually. She also co-founded and co-directed the Emory Women’s Musculoskeletal Health Initiative, a multidisciplinary program integrating orthopaedics, endocrinology, physical therapy, nutrition, and psychology to improve women’s musculoskeletal wellness. Her leadership extended to operational oversight at the Emory Orthopaedics and Spine Hospital, where she guided teams through significant transitions. She was named one of Atlanta’s Top Doctors for five consecutive years (2018–2022). 

Earlier in her academic career, Dr. Ananthakrishnan was an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Washington, serving at University Hospital, Harborview Medical Center, and the Seattle VA. There, she taught residents and fellows and took Level I spine trauma surgical call.

In 2009, Dr. Ananthakrishnan founded Orthopaedic Link, a nonprofit organization that repurposes surplus orthopaedic implants for use in developing countries, facilitating over $4 million in global donations and supporting surgical care for more than 400 indigent patients across Malawi, Nepal, the Philippines, and Bulgaria. 

Dr. Ananthakrishnan earned her Doctor of Medicine from Albany Medical College, a Master’s in Bioengineering from the University of Washington, and both her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Executive MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She holds active medical licenses in Georgia, Colorado and California. She continues to advise on multidisciplinary care delivery, device innovation, and health equity initiatives worldwide.