Dr. Sri Adhikari grew up in the shadow of Kathmandu in Boudha, a small village renowned for the massive UNESCO-listed Boudhanath Stupa and its large Tibetan community. Nowadays, public transport easily connects Boudha to the center of Kathmandu. When he was growing up, it still felt like a small agricultural town. 

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His Mother and Father were farmers, like the majority of Boudha’s population. His Father also worked part time at a communications center and acted on the side. Growing up, Dr. Adhikari describes it as the kind of place where everyone knew each other and neighbors would help out in times of need. 

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“If there was flooding, or someone’s farm was destroyed, you would go help them out. Same thing, if you needed help with the farm. That’s the kind of community I grew up in.”

He attended school nearby until high school, when he took whatever transport was available to Kathmandu. His parents placed a high value on education, and from a young age encouraged his interest in medicine. As a senior in high school, he started applying to medical school in Nepal, but it was cost prohibitive due to up-front fees, and scholarships were extremely competitive – only 100 to 150 seats at the time for an applicant pool of 8,000-9,000. 

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In the end, Dr. Adhikari was not selected for the available scholarships, but hadn’t lost his dream of pursuing medicine. His family decided to take a giant leap of faith and put everything they owned into sending him to the United States. In 2007, he immigrated without knowing anyone besides his wife, and without any additional financial support. Through working while pursuing his undergraduate studies, he was able to pay off the debt his parents had taken out for him to come to the United States. 

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Dr. Adhikari graduated from Quinnipiac University’s Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine. He originally developed an interest in neuroanatomy during medical school, and in his third year he knew he wanted to go into neurosurgery. 

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He is currently a Chief Resident at the Carilion Clinic at Virginia Tech, and will graduate from his residency in June 2026, after spending seven years as a resident. His next step is to do a fellowship to learn more about skull base and vascular neurosurgery, a skillset he hopes to share with others in the future. 

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Looking forward, Dr. Adhikari is dedicated to giving back to the Nepali people in the same way he saw members of his community give back to each other throughout his childhood. Although he has been in the United States for his medical career, Dr. Adhikari still calls Nepal home and intends to support work there throughout his life. For him, it is an honor to do so in a way that is sustainable and leverages the training he has received while in the United States.