Sakil Kulkarni grew up in Mumbai, India where he completed his schooling. His father worked in finance, and his mother was a teacher. Both his parents are retired, and live in Mumbai. His younger brother lives in Seattle. Thanks to the nice and warm climate that Mumbai provides, Sakil played a variety of sports. His early role models were Pete Sampras (tennis), and Zinedine Zidane (soccer). Working with his uncle, a Pediatrician, from an early age helped foster his interest in Pediatrics. He attended medical school at Seth G.S. Medical School, and subsequently completed his internship at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. During this time, he was a part of his medical school Cricket team and played at the national level. He then completed a pediatric residency at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in India.

He decided to move to the United States to specialize in Pediatric Gastroenterology. He completed a second pediatric residency at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, Florida. He loved Miami, and found the weather to be very similar to home. He later moved to St Louis for his pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at Wash U. Quite unexpectedly, he fell in love with the city, and the people in Midwest.

During his second and third year of fellowship, Sakil worked in the Rudnick lab studying PPARdependent genomic regulation in a mouse model of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). He enjoyed working with the state-of-the-art GTAC center at Wash U on the informatics aspect of this project. During this time, he developed an interest in the study of liver diseases. After his GI fellowship, Sakil finished an additional year as the inaugural pediatric transplant hepatology fellow at Wash U. His interest in this field led to him querying the UNOS/SRTR database regarding the outcomes of pediatric subjects on the liver transplant waitlist. He has continued this line of research in his post-fellowship period. He hopes to utilize the results of these investigations to improve the outcomes of children with liver disease.

Outside work, Sakil’s interests include travelling, sports and world history. He is currently trying to travel the United States to learn more about the culture and history. He keenly follows cricket, though he misses playing it. Sakil lives in Afton, MO with his wife Madhura Joag, 3rd year IM resident at Mercy Hospital St. Louis. Sakil and Madhura love to explore the St Louis food scene. They are proud parents of their furkids- Sir Ridley Bing (3 yo) and Lily Bader Ginsburg (1 yo).