Former American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine) President Asokumar Buvanendran, MD, has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 Distinguished Service Award (DSA) in recognition of his outstanding contributions to regional anesthesiology and pain medicine.
A national leader in pain management, he has played a pivotal role in advancing multimodal analgesia protocols (opioid sparing), particularly in orthopedic surgery. His current research, funded by NIH and Department of Defense grants, explores pain mechanisms, alternatives to opioids, and the transition from acute to chronic pain. A key focus is preventing chronic pain after surgery, which helps reduce opioid use in patients.