Dr. Krishna M. Pinnamaneni, MD

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Get to know Endocrinologist Dr. Krishna Murthy Pinnamaneni, who serves patients in Tempe, Arizona.

Being a board-certified endocrinologist, Dr. Pinnamaneni has been providing experienced and specialized clinical services in the Valley (Arizona) for well over three decades. He is the owner & operator of Sonoran Desert Medical Specialists in Tempe, Arizona.

With an unwavering commitment to his speciality, he is board-certified in internal medicine & endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism by the American Board of Internal Medicine, a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world. He is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Canada), a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a Fellow of the American College of Endocrinology. 

With over 50 years of continuing medical education and experience, Dr. Pinnamaneni entered medical school in 1965. He graduated with his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from Guntur Medical College of Andhra University in India in 1970. He continued his post-graduate training in internal medicine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), another premier medical research and teaching center in New Delhi. 

Upon relocating to the United States, he completed additional training in internal medicine in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan. He then trained in endocrinology & metabolism at the University of Chicago (UC) Pritzker School of Medicine and Billings Hospital. 

The doctor’s research work at UC included suppressor T-Cell function in thyroid autoimmunity, incidence of pre-Grave’s disease gene transmission in siblings, thyroid hormone binding to human cell (lymphocyte) nuclear (DNA) receptors, external irradiation associated thyroid cancer, and cost-effective outcomes of outpatient low dose 131I ablative therapy in thyroid cancer, only to mention a few. While serving as an Instructor of Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSOM) in St. Louis, he received additional training in metabolic bone diseases and metabolic renal stone diseases. 

The Barnes-Jewish Hospital of the WUSOM awarded Dr. Pinnamaneni the Simmons Scholarship for Research in Endocrinology and Metabolism with emphasis in Bone and Mineral Metabolism. His basic research included the recognition of bone demineralization effects of circulating thyroid hormones in excess. He also worked on the evolution of bone cells (osteocytes, osteoblasts, and osteoclasts) as well as hormone receptors on bone cells. In collaboration with Drs. Ronald Burde (neuro-ophthalmologist) and Morton Smith (ophthalmic pathologist) of the Division of Ophthalmology at WUSOM, Dr. Pinnamaneni studied experimental drugs such as Methotrexate in thyroid eye disease (circa 1979). 

For over three years, from 1980 to 1983, he was an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California at both the San Francisco campus and Davis Medical Center. He was also the Chief of the Endocrine Section at Travis Air Force Base and received a much sought-out USAF Teaching Ribbon (circa 1981) as one of the best teaching staff members for the MAC (Military Airlift Command) medical residency training programs. 

Among the doctor’s most notable achievements, Dr. Pinnamaneni was the first one to bring new technology for the measurement of bone density (bone mineral analysis) in metabolic bone diseases in an outpatient/office setting (circa 1983). Additionally, he co-chaired the intense task to develop and start the first U.S. Bone Densitometry Training Course for endocrinologists under AACE certification programs; and served as a member and consultant on endocrinology plenary sessions and on many health care insurance and hospital committees in Arizona, California (for the Department of Defense), Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan. 

Furthemore, Dr. Pinnamaneni initiated and established a partnership with then-Samaritan (now Banner) Health Services, a large U.S hospital corporation. He built the first outpatient MRI Center in Arizona in 1984, and held the position of Permanent Chairman of the Board of Directors of that partnership. 

As a formally trained metabolic-molecular imaging or nuclear medicine specialist with about 40 years of experience, Dr. Pinnamaneni is the founding Director of an outpatient nuclear isotope center that is licensed by the Arizona Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He provides a complete spectrum of metabolic-molecular/nuclear medicine outpatient imaging services in Arizona. In fact, he is one of the endocrinologists who started office-based ultrasonography and promoted thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy in Southwestern USA for over 35 years. Since then, he has performed and/or interpreted several thousand thyroid/neck ultrasounds and has performed several thousand thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsies in his outpatient practice. 

An authority in his field, Dr. Pinnamaneni has authored/co-authored several research and clinical publications in endocrinology. For three years, from 1997 until 2000, he held a Board Member position on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE). He strongly promoted democratic principles and policies at AACE, as well as actively participated as a reviewer for some of the AACE National Guidelines in the care of various endocrine-metabolic diseases. 

Endocrinology is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. Endocrinologists have the training to diagnose and treat hormone imbalances and problems by helping to restore the normal balance of hormones in the body. The common diseases and disorders of the endocrine system that endocrinologists deal with include diabetes mellitus, as well as adrenal, pituitary, and thyroid disorders, among others. 

Throughout his extensive career, Dr. Pinnamaneni considers it a privilege to have been given the opportunity to work and/or train with some of the most world-renowned endocrinologists in both research and clinical settings. His private practice was inaugurated by Peter H. Forsham, MD, an internationally renowned endocrinology-metabolism scientist and one of his distinguished mentors.

In light of his professional achievements, he received an honor as a President Scout from the President of India, Honorable S. Radhakrishnan, on November 30, 1964. It was the highest honor a boy scout can receive in India. He also received formal education in Computer Networking Engineering with a diploma, and headed as CEO of a Global Healthcare Information Technology (IT) company, In Phase International, Inc. (IPI), a Delaware Corporation. IPI was then headquartered in the Phoenix area with an active overseas satellite office in Geneva, Switzerland for European clients.

On a more personal note, Dr. Pinnamaneni has been married for over five decades to his wife, a pediatrician. Together, they have two sons who are successful in their chosen fields (legal profession).

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