Dr. Pannunzio grew up in South Florida, leaving to attend Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1989. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1993 and stayed on in Charlottesville for residency training.

During his general surgery internship, Dr. Pannunzio was awarded a one-year post-doctoral Research Fellowship in Gait Analysis at the Kluge Motion Analysis Laboratory. Following this, he stayed at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center where he completed his Orthopaedic Surgery training in 1999. He then traveled to San Antonio, TX for a one-year fellowship at The Hand Center of San Antonio in Hand and Microvascular Reconstructive surgery.

During his fellowship year, Dr. Pannunzio was recruited to return to the University of Virginia to join the teaching faculty in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. During his tenure at the university, he co-directed the orthopaedic residency and hand fellowship programs, and received the resident’s award for teaching excellence in 2005. He developed an entirely new vein of research, investigating the potential of genetically modified cells to improve outcomes in peripheral nerve repair. He published multiple articles and book chapters, spoke at numerous national conferences, and with his partners developed a regional Center of Excellence for upper extremity care.

In March, 2005, Dr. Pannunzio was invited to join Reconstructive Hand Surgeons of Indiana where he will focus his orthopaedic practice on upper extremity care distal to the shoulder. He treats patients of all ages with traumatic, non-traumatic or congenital conditions of the upper extremity and has a special interest in complex elbow reconstruction, treatment of the arthritic hand and microvascular reconstructive surgery.

Dr. Pannunzio lives in Zionsville and is an avid boater. He enjoys woodworking, racquetball and spending time with his family.