Father/Daughter Doctor Duo — Prabhakar and Sravanthi Tripuraneni

Dr. Sravanthi Tripuraneni follows in her father Prabhakar’s footsteps, in more ways than one

Scripps family medicine doctor Sravanthi Tripuraneni and her father, radiation oncologist Prabhakar Tripuraneni, hike together at Torrey Pines State Reserve.

Dr. Prabhakar Tripuraneni, Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center, Scripps Clinic and Dr. Sravanthi Tripuraneni, Family Medicine, Scripps Clinic

Dr. Sravanthi Tripuraneni follows in her father Prabhakar’s footsteps, in more ways than one

For an entire decade, Prabhakar Tripuraneni, MD, a radiation oncologist at Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center and Scripps Clinic, drove past Torrey Pines on his daily commute without so much as a pit stop. That all changed when the Indian-born doctor and longtime Carmel Valley resident was invited on a hike. He was hooked. That walk among the stately trees and proud bluffs marked the beginning of a beautiful friendship.


For the past 25 years, Dr. Tripuraneni has been walking those same trails every Saturday and Sunday, plus twice more per week during the summer. He estimates he’s hiked there thousands of times. 


He’s also taken on some notably tougher treks: Machu Picchu (“a walk in the park”), Mount Kilimanjaro (“a butt kicker”), Mount Whitney (three ascensions) and a 100-mile stretch of Spain’s Camino de Santiago. “I came to the painful conclusion the human body was not designed to hike 33 miles three days in a row,” he says.

Mutual interests in medicine and marathon hikes

Dr. Tripuraneni’s affinity for hiking has become a family affair. Much in the same way he encouraged his daughter Sravanthi Tripuraneni, MD, to pursue a career in medicine, he also inspired her to follow in his footsteps on the trails. 


Sravanthi, now a family medicine physician at Scripps Clinic Rancho Bernardo, has since tackled the Peruvian Andes as a team with her pop, and they are planning a hike along the coast of Portugal in April.


“He’s always out in front,” she says.


The second-generation Dr. Tripuraneni may also join her father in Iceland this summer (she hasn’t committed yet), and someday, she plans to make her own ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro. 


“His goal for me is to be able to hike for three hours or 10 miles, whichever comes first,” she says. Her father can hoof it for five hours, or nearly 20 miles. And of course, she makes her own outings at Torrey Pines, where she keeps up her stamina.

Age doesn’t slow down the Tripuraneni family

“It must be something in our genes,” says the elder Dr. Tripuraneni. “My dad in India is 92. He walks a half-mile in the morning and evening. All the younger guys who have retired are trying to keep up with him. “I could play golf, too — but I’m a cheapo,” he adds. “Hiking is a physically and mentally healthy hobby that you can do for free anywhere in the world at any time of the day.”

The cover of the March issue of San Diego Health magazine shows jockey and Scripps patient, Victor Espinoza.

This content appeared in San Diego Health, a publication in partnership between Scripps and San Diego Magazine that celebrates the healthy spirit of San Diego.

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