Kunal Bhatia, MD
Assistant Professor
Department:
SOM-Neurology
Email:
kbhatia1@umc.edu
Biography
Dr. Kunal Bhatia is a physician specializing in neurocritical care with advanced training in the management of critically ill neurological patients. Born and raised in New Delhi, India, he completed his medical school education at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, followed by postgraduate training in Internal Medicine.
He later moved to the United States to pursue advanced specialty training, completing a Neurology residency at the University of Missouri–Columbia. He subsequently undertook a two-year Neurocritical Care fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, where he gained extensive experience in the management of complex neurocritical conditions within a high-acuity academic ICU setting.
Dr. Bhatia is board certified in his specialty and has developed strong clinical expertise in the care of patients with acute neurological emergencies, including ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, status epilepticus, subarachnoid hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, and intracerebral hemorrhage. His research interests include hemorrhagic transformation in acute ischemic stroke, hematoma expansion in intracerebral hemorrhage, neuro-prognostication, and quality improvement initiatives in stroke and neurocritical care.
In addition to his clinical and academic pursuits, Dr. Bhatia is committed to medical education and multidisciplinary collaboration, with a focus on improving patient outcomes through evidence-based, high-quality critical care delivery.
Education
| Washington University in St.Louis, Fellowship, Neurocritical Care | 2022 |
| University Of Missouri-Columbia, MD, Neurology | 2020 |
| Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, MBBS, Medicine | 2009 |
Specialty Certification Licensure
| Certification, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology | 10/2022 - Present |
| Licensure, MISSISSIPPI STATE BOARD OF MEDICAL LICENSURE | 07/2023 - 06/2024 |
| Certification, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology | 09/2020 - Present |
Current Positions
| Program Director - Neurocritical Care Fellowship, School of Medicine, Department of Neurology | 2025 - Present |
| Quality Officer, School of Medicine, Department of Neurology | 09/2023 - Present |
| Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Neurology | 07/2023 - Present |
| The University of Mississippi Medical Center Jackson, Mississippi 39216 | |
Academic Appointments or Other Previous Appointments
| Division Chief, UMMC, School of Medicine, Department of Neurology | 12/2024 - 03/2026 |
Publications
Case Reports | |
| Bhatia K, Akhtar IN, Akinci Y, Liaqat J, Siddiq F, Gomez CR, Qureshi AI, Drug-Eluting Balloon Angioplasty for In-Stent Restenosis Following Carotid Artery Stent Placement. Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging, 2020 May;30(3):267-275 | 2020 |
| Kaur H, Bhatia K, Yelam A, Shukla A, Asher I, Govindarajan R, Infusion-rate-dependent Acute Neuropathic Pain with Duopa in a Patient with Parkinson's Disease and Pre-existing Neuropathy. Cureus, 2018 Jul 26;10(7):e3055 | 2018 |
Review | |
| Arora N, Shastri DH, Patel UP, Bhatia K, Modulation of beta-hydroxybutyrate in traumatic brain injury. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care, 2024 Mar 1;27(2):168-177 | 2024 |
Journal Article | |
| Bhatti MQ, Chapman R, Kulik T, Di Napoli M, Bhatia K, Elkind MSV, Selim M, McCullough LD, Cáceres E, Flaherty JD, Zoghi M, Al Qassab O, Divani AA, On Neurocardiology Updates: an Interdisciplinary Field at the Intersection of Neurology and Cardiology. Current neurology and neuroscience reports, 2025 Aug 14;25(1):59 | 2025 |
| Cáceres E, Divani AA, Rubinos CA, Olivella-Gómez J, Viñan Garcés AE, González A, Alvarado Arias A, Bhatia K, Samadani U, Reyes LF, PaCO(2) Association with Outcomes of Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury at High Altitude: A Prospective Single-Center Cohort Study. Neurocritical care, 2024 Dec;41(3):767-778 | 2024 |
| Bhatia K, Ladd LM, Carr KH, Di Napoli M, Saver JL, McCullough LD, Hosseini Farahabadi M, Alsbrook DL, Hinduja A, Ortiz Garcia JG, Sabbagh SY, Jafarli A, Divani AA, Contemporary Antiplatelet and Anticoagulant Therapies for Secondary Stroke Prevention: A Narrative Review of Current Literature and Guidelines. Current neurology and neuroscience reports, 2023 May;23(5):235-262 | 2023 |
| Alsbrook DL, Di Napoli M, Bhatia K, Desai M, Hinduja A, Rubinos CA, Mansueto G, Singh P, Domeniconi GG, Ikram A, Sabbagh SY, Divani AA, Pathophysiology of Early Brain Injury and Its Association with Delayed Cerebral Ischemia in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Review of Current Literature. Journal of clinical medicine, 2023 Jan 28;12(3) | 2023 |
| Alsbrook DL, Di Napoli M, Bhatia K, Biller J, Andalib S, Hinduja A, Rodrigues R, Rodriguez M, Sabbagh SY, Selim M, Farahabadi MH, Jafarli A, Divani AA, Neuroinflammation in Acute Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke. Current neurology and neuroscience reports, 2023 Aug;23(8):407-431 | 2023 |
| Bhatti MQ, Gonzalez-Fernandez E, Bhatia K, Divani AA, Di Napoli M, Hinduja A, Datta YH, Neurological Complications Associated with Hereditary Bleeding Disorders. Current neurology and neuroscience reports, 2023 Nov;23(11):751-767 | 2023 |
| Kumar A, Chen Y, Corbin A, Hamzehloo A, Abedini A, Vardar Z, Carey G, Bhatia K, Heitsch L, Derakhshan JJ, Lee JM, Dhar R, Automated Measurement of Net Water Uptake From Baseline and Follow-Up CTs in Patients With Large Vessel Occlusion Stroke. Frontiers in neurology, 2022;13:898728 | 2022 |
| Bhatia K, Qi L, Qureshi AI, Cerebral Thrombo-Angiitis Obliterans in a Patient with Marijuana Use. Journal of vascular and interventional neurology, 2018 Jun;10(1):57-59 | 2018 |
| Bhatia K, Hepburn M, Ziu E, Siddiq F, Qureshi AI, Modern Approaches to Evacuating Intracerebral Hemorrhage. Current cardiology reports, 2018 Oct 11;20(12):132 | 2018 |
| Bhatia K, Mohanty S, Tripathi BK, Gupta B, Mittal MK, Predictors of early neurological deterioration in patients with acute ischaemic stroke with special reference to blood urea nitrogen (BUN)/creatinine ratio & urine specific gravity. The Indian journal of medical research, 2015 Mar;141(3):299-307 | 2015 |
| Dengue hemorrhagic fever with multiple abscesses: An unusual presentation. | |
| Rules-based natural language processing to extract features of large vessel occlusion and cerebral edema from radiology reports in stroke patients | |
| Bhatia K, Bhagavan S, Bains N, French B, Siddiq F, Gomez CR, Qureshi AI, Current Endovascular Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke. Missouri medicine, 2020 Sep-Oct;117(5):480-489 | |
| Dhar R, Kumar A, Chen Y, Begunova Y, Olexa M, Prasad A, Carey G, Gonzalez I, Bhatia K, Hamed M, Heitsch L, Mainali S, Petersen N, Lee JM, Imaging biomarkers of cerebral edema automatically extracted from routine CT scans of large vessel occlusion strokes. Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging, 2023 Jul-Aug;33(4):606-616 | |
Review Article | |
| New Onset Refractory Status Epilepticus | |
| Imaging modalities in acute ischemic stroke American Journal of Hospital medicine | |
Book Chapter | |
| Rapidly progressive muscle weakness | |
| Procedures and Protocols in the Neurocritical Care Unit | |
| Procedures and Protocols in the Neurocritical Care Unit | |
Presentations
| Poster Presentation, Unraveling Susac Syndrome: A Case of Probable Diagnosis with Large Artery Disease, AAN, San Diego | 04/2025 |
| Poster Presentation, Human Herpes Virus 6 (HHV-6) Encephalitis Presenting as New Onset Refractory Status Epilepticus in an Immunocompetent Adult, AAN, San Diego | 04/2025 |
| State/Local Invited Seminars/Lectures, Management of ICH - Recent Updates, 1. University of South Alabama Ninth Annual Neuroscience Symposium, Pensacola, Florida | 04/2024 |
| Poster Presentation, Cerebral Ischemic Stroke Associated with Severe Iron Deficiency Anemia and Thrombocytosis, AAN, Denver | 04/2024 |
| State/Local Invited Seminars/Lectures, Neurovascular Disorders, Mississippi College - Physician Assistant Studies, Clinton, MS | 03/2024 |
| Poster Presentation, VASOPRESSOR REQUIREMENTS IN PATIENTS RECEIVING IV MILRINONE FOR CEREBRAL VASOSPASM AFTER ASAH, SCCM - Critical Care Congress, Phoenix | 01/2024 |
| Poster Presentation, Early Mobilization Protocol” Can Be Initiated In The Intensive Care Unit In Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients After Receiving Intravenous Alteplase, INTERNATIONAL STROKE CONFERENCE | 02/2022 |
| Poster Presentation, Therapeutic Value Of Antifibrinolytic Medication In Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients With Alteplase-associated Intracerebral Hemorrhage, INTERNATIONAL STROKE CONFERENCE | 02/2022 |
| Poster Presentation, Amyloid Myopathy as an initial manifestation of Primary AL associated amyloidosis: A Case Report and review of literature, AAN | 05/2019 |
| Poster Presentation, Distinct Presentation of Dural AV Fistula as Primary Intraventricular Hemorrhage Isolated in Cerebral Aqueduct., AAN | 04/2018 |
| Poster Presentation, Syndrome of transient headache with neurological deficits and CSF lymphocytosis (HaNDL) presenting with Diffusion Restriction in the Splenium of Corpus Callosum: Case report and review of literature, AAN | 04/2018 |
| Poster Presentation, Who Uses the Data-Supported, AAN Practice Parameters for Detecting and Diagnosing Alzheimer Disease, and How Often?, AAN | 04/2015 |
Honors, Awards, and Recognition
| Carl G. Evers,M.D., Honors Society - Clinical Science Attending of the Year, University of Mississippi School of Medicine | 2026 |
| Sigma Xi - Full Member, Sigma Xi Society | 2023 |
| Daniel M. Keniston Award for Outstanding Resident, University of Missouri-Columbia | 2020 |
| Alpha Omega Alpha Member, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society | 2019 |
Professional Membership and Service
| Association of University Professors of Neurology, Member | |
| Mississippi Healthcare Alliance, Member, Stroke Advisory and Performance Improvement Committee | |
| American Academy of Neurology, Member | |
| Neurocritical Care Society, Member | |
| American heart association, Member |
Committee Service
| SCHOOL OF MEDICINE-CURRICULUM - CLINICAL SCIENCES SUBCOMMITTEE, Member | 2023 - 2025 |
| Program Evaluation Committee, Member | 2023 - Present |
Other Service
| Journal of Mississippi State Medical Association | |
| American Academy of Neurology | |
| American Neurological Association | |
| Neurocritical Care Journal | |
| Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery | |
| PLOS ONE | |
| Journal of Neuroimaging, Editorial Board member | |
| Neurocritical Care Specialty - StatPearls |
Teaching Experience
| UMMC - Internal medicine, Lecture, Lecture, IM board review course | |
| Medicine, Course, Lecturer, Board Review Course - Neurology |
Directed Student Learning
| Supervised Teaching Activity, Advised: | 2023 - 2025 |
Fellows supervised
| Neurocritical Care Fellowship, Fellowship Director, 1 fellows supervised, Neurosciences ICU | 07/2025 - 06/2026 |
| Vascular Neurology Fellowship, Training Faculty, 3 fellows supervised, Vascular Neurology | 07/2024 - Present |
Residency Training
| Neurology Residency, Attending Physician | 2022 - Present |