Meet the Faculty
Please click on the names/photos to see short bios.
Faculty

Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD

Dr. Alaa Abd-Elsayed joined the faculty of the Anesthesiology Department at the University of Wisconsin in 2014 to provide Chronic Pain Medicine Services as part of the Interventional Pain Program. He received his medical training at Assiut University Medical School in Egypt, completed a master’s degree in Public Health, research fellowship at Cleveland Clinic, and residency in anesthesiology and pain management fellowship at University of Cincinnati. As part of the Interventional Pain Program, Dr. Abd-Elsayed evaluates patients at the Pain Clinic, and when an interventional pain treatment is appropriate, performs procedures at the Madison Surgery Center.
In addition to his work as a pain specialist, Dr. Abd-Elsayed is an active clinical investigator. Current studies include the use of opioids, genetic variations leading to different individual response to opioids, and the use of neuromodulation and peripheral nerve stimulators for the management of neuropathic pain. He also has research interests in fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and headaches, and is leading a study called “CREATE” to help CRPS patients. Over the course of his career, he has received numerous research grants, published more than 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts and authored several editorials and book chapters. He has presented at more than 60 international and national conferences and has earned more than 15 awards at the state and national levels. In addition, he has served as a reviewer for more than 20 journals and as an editor to several journals.
“Dr. Al,” as he likes to be called, is a member of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) and the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA). He was named among the Leading Physicians of the World and America’s Best Physicians in 2016.

Adnan Al-Kaisy, MD

Dr. Al-Kaisy is currently the Clinical Lead of the Pain Management and Neuromodulation Centre at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS trust. He trained in Chronic Pain Medicine at The Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Liverpool. He has a fellowship in Chronic Pain Management at the University of Toronto Hospital, Canada. Dr. Al-Kaisy has an international reputation as a leading expert in Pain Management and has extensive experience in working toward the advancement of electrical neuromodulation techniques within this specialty. Dr. Al-Kaisy led the first multicenter and multinational study on the safety and efficacy of 10kHz SCS in the management of Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS). He has subsequently clinically pioneered the use of this novel therapy in the management of different chronic pain conditions including the feasibility study on chronic back patients without prior surgery. He has successfully designed groundbreaking research including a randomized double-blind placebo control study examining different frequencies in the management of FBSS. He is the innovator of a number of techniques including transgrade dorsal root ganglion stimulation using monopolar electrical stimulation. Dr. Al-Kaisy continues to teach and lecture on essential and pioneering topics in pain management in the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia. He is the chair of the biannual London Spine Pain Symposium at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital.

Shahzad Anwar, MD

Dr. Shahzad Anwar is an Interventional Spine & Pain Medicine Physician and Medical Acupuncturist with over 20 years of experience in the fields of Pain Management, Regenerative Medicine, and Medical Acupuncture. Dr. Shahzad graduated from Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore in 1995. He started his medical career as a Physician and Medical Acupuncturist in 1998 after his postgraduate training at Beijing University of TCM. He is among the few Pakistani doctors who have been trained at Harvard Medical School USA in the field of Pain Medicine. He did his Masters in Pain Medicine from Cardiff University UK and also from Riphah International University Islamabad, Pakistan. He has done Fellowship in Interventional Pain Medicine from (Pain School International) Hungary, a Fellowship in Interventional Pain Practice-FIPP (WIP-USA), and a Fellowship in Endoscopic Spine Surgery from Turkey. He is a Diplomat and a Member American Academy and Board of Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Shahzad Anwar is the Founding President of the Society for Interventional Pain Medicine (SIPM) Pakistan. He runs his own hospital “Iffat Anwar Medical Complex” in Lahore. He is working as Head of the Department of Pain Medicine at Azra Naheed Medical College, Lahore. He is actively engaged in research, teaching, and training of young doctors in the fields of Pain Medicine, Regenerative Medicine, and Medical Acupuncture.

Fabricio Dias Assis, MD

Fabricio Assis, MD, FIPP is one of the founders of the Brazilian Society of interventional Pain Physicians (SOBRAMID) and its first president from 2013 to 2015. Dr. Assis is involved in lots of educational projects and had trained physicians in interventional pain all over the world in the last 20 years. Twelve years ago, he started a very successful training program in Interventional Pain in Brazil, where physicians from all over the country and neighboring ones from Latin America come once a month a year. This project was replicated in Budapest in 2017 and named Pain School International. Dr. Assis is also one of the directors of the WIP Workshop in Florida. Just founded in 2022, Dr. Assis is the first president of the Latin American Pain Society (LAPS). Dr. Assis became a certified pain specialist at the Universidad de Barcelona, Spain, in 1998. Since that he began his work in interventional pain management and focused his work mainly on chronic pain patients, performing all kinds of procedures. He had participated in courses and traineeships in Hungary, England, Turkey, the Netherlands, the US, and several other countries. In 2007 he became a WIP-certified Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP). Today Dr. Assis works at Singular – Pain Management Center, an EPP (Excellence in Pain Practice) Center in Campinas, SP, and is a member of the pain team at Hospital Sao Luiz Itaim, Sao Luiz Morumbi e Vila Nova Star and the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital, all in São Paulo.

Steve Aydin, DO

Dr. Steve M. Aydin is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra University/Northwell Health, as well as Chief of PM&R and Intervention Pain Management at Kayal Medical Group, in NJ. He completed his PMR training at UMDNJ/Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, and his pain management fellowship at the University of Michigan. He is board-certified in both PMR and Pain Management. He has published multiple book chapters, case reports, and research articles on interventional pain medicine techniques and treatments. He is an active member of the ASIPP, NJSIPP, and AAPMR. He also serves on the Board of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP).

Nomen Azeem, MD

Dr. Azeem completed his undergraduate education at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA and medical education at the Ross University School of Medicine. He went on to complete his medical internship at Medstar Harbor Hospital Center in Baltimore, Maryland followed by residency at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Washington, DC. At that time, he also served as Chief Resident. Upon completion of his residency, I held a faculty position with Medstar Georgetown University/National Rehabilitation Hospital as a Musculoskeletal Medicine Specialist.He then went on to complete an ACGME Interventional Pain Fellowship at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA under the guidance of Dr. Frank J.E. Falco, an internationally renowned pain physician.
He joined a multidisciplinary pain practice in New Orleans, LA as an Interventional Pain and Sports Medicine Specialist, and shortly thereafter was named the Director of Neuomodulation. He also partnered with the Department of Neurosurgery Tulane Medical Center to become their sole comprehensive pain management provider. While in New Orleans he was named board member for the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation which was responsible for bringing the 2014 NBA.
Sarasota, Florida, he developed the first successful non-opioid based interventional pain clinic in the area.

Carlos Marcelo De Barros, MD, PhD

Pain Physician and Palliative Care. PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Federal University of Alfenas, Brazil) President-elect Brazilian Society for Studies of Pain- SBED (2024-5). Scientific Director of sinpain sa. Professor of Anesthesiology, Pain and Palliative Care – Federal University of Alfenas, Brazil. Chief Editor – Cancer Pain Textbook, Editora Atheneu.

Doug Beall, MD

Douglas P. Beall, MD, is board-certified in Diagnostic Radiology, has an added fellowship in Musculoskeletal Radiology, is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management, and is a Fellow of the Society of Interventional Radiology and Interventional Pain Practice and board-certified by the World Institute of Pain. He is currently in private practice focused on interventional pain management and minimally invasive surgical procedures.

Kenneth Candido, MD

Kenneth D. Candido, MD Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine
Dr. Kenneth D. Candido is Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago and Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology and Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. Dr. Candido is a highly visible presence regionally and nationally in the pain management community. Since becoming Chair in 2008, Dr. Candido has spearheaded a pain management program which has realized double-digit expansion in each of his ten years there.
Dr. Candido spent the first two years of medical school in Tampico, Mexico, then completed the educational curriculum at The New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York. He took an internship and residency in Anesthesiology at The Metropolitan Hospital in New York. During that time, Ken met Dr. Alon P. Winnie, one of the founding fathers of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and one of the nation’s leaders in education regarding pain medicine who at the time was Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He offered Dr. Candido a Fellowship spot there, which Dr. Candido completed in 1988. Shortly thereafter, he returned to his roots on the East Coast, landing a position in the Department of Anesthesiology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
At Lenox Hill, Dr. Candido established a pain clinic, which he staffed daily after completing his anesthesiology duties in the operating rooms. In the eight years at Lenox Hill, Dr. Candido treated more than 20,000 patients suffering from a variety of both routine as well as complex pain entities.
In 1997, Dr. Candido was asked by Dr. Winnie, to rejoin his faculty at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago, and the two collaborated on a number of successful and highly regarded projects and publications. As Dr. Winnie prepared for retirement in 2001, however, Dr. Candido determined his future lay elsewhere, and so joined the prestigious Anesthesiology and Pain Management Department at Northwestern University Medical Center, where he was quickly promoted to the rank of Associate Professor and was placed in a Director Role over the Acute Pain Program. In 2005, Dr. Candido joined Loyola University Medical Center as Program Director of the Pain Management Fellowship Program and as Chief of the Pain Division. At Loyola, Dr. Candido was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology.
Dr. Candido has published extensively on areas of acute and chronic pain management, and to date has written more than one hundred fifty-five original peer-referenced papers on a variety of topics related to controlling pain. He has also written more than eighty-five textbook chapters on diverse areas of pain control and has lectured to international audiences on the complex nature of pain and its treatment. Several of his works deal with finding appropriate solutions to dealing with painful conditions in patients who have underlying or iatrogenic addictive diseases which often blurs the distinction between therapy aimed at physiological ailments versus those designed to combat psychological distress.
Dr. Candido was born in New Jersey, attended Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, graduating in 1979. He lives in the Chicago metropolitan area with his family including four children ranging in age from 12 to 35.

Christopher Centeno, MD

Christopher J. Centeno, M.D. is an international expert and specialist in Interventional Orthopedics and the clinical use of bone marrow concentrate in orthopedics. He is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation with a subspecialty of pain medicine through The American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Dr. Centeno is one of the few physicians in the world with extensive experience in the culture expansion of and clinical use of adult bone marrow concentrate to treat orthopedic injuries. His clinic incorporates a variety of revolutionary pain management techniques to bring its broad patient base relief and results. Dr. Centeno treats patients from all over the US who travel to Colorado to undergo innovative, non-surgical treatments. Dr. Centeno has chaired multiple international research-based conferences. He also maintains an active research-based practice, with multiple publications listed in the US National Library of Medicine. Dr. Centeno has also served as editor-in-chief of a medical research journal dedicated to traumatic injury.
Dr. Centeno trained at the Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Medical Center, and the Institute for Rehabilitation Research. He hails from both Florida and New York and currently resides in Boulder, Colorado with his wife and three children.

Kenneth B. Chapman, MD

Dr. Kenneth Chapman is the director of pain management at Staten Island University Hospital, part of the Northwell Health System, and is an assistant clinical professor at NYU Langone Medical Center. He completed his Interventional Pain Management Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, and his Anesthesiology residency at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, New York.
Dr. Chapman directs the fellowship program at the Spine and Pain Institute of NY and is actively involved in teaching and lecturing both nationally and internationally. Dr. Chapman also frequently serves as a pain management Board Examiner for certification on the Fellowship of Interventional Pain Practice Pain Boards. He has won numerous peer validated awards including ‘America’s Best Anesthesiologists’ and ‘Most Compassionate Doctors,’ and was one of the youngest physicians to ever be named as both a NY Times ‘Super Doctor’ and NY Magazine ‘Top Doctor’ when he first received the recognition in 2014. While at the Cleveland Clinic Dr. Chapman also received the “Ethlene R. Smith’s Most Outstanding Fellow” award. He is Vice President of the NYS Interventional Pain Society and on the advisory board to the NYS Worker’s Compensation Board responsible for writing the NYS Worker’s Compensation Guidelines, which all injured workers in the state are treated by.
Dr. Chapman’s interests include translational research pertaining to spinal cord stimulation and dorsal root ganglion stimulation mechanism of action, and studies involving the use of DRG-S to treat conditions traditionally considered to be mechanical pain syndromes.

George Chang Chien, DO

George C. Chang Chien is a physiatrist specializing in interventional pain management with a focus on musculoskeletal medicine and regenerative medicine. He has practices in Southern California and can be reached at www.GCCInstitute.org

Kathleen Ciarletta, NP

Kathleen Ciarletta is a Nurse Practitioner from Bayville, Long Island. Kathleen is board-certified in family health by the ANCC and AANP. She is a graduate of Molloy University for both her BSN and Masters in nursing. She has over 10 years of experience in healthcare, with a strong background in medical surgical nursing and palliative homecare. After obtaining her Masters, Kathleen began working in pain management in Long Island for Edward S Rubin, MD. There, she is dedicated to improving healthcare outcomes and advocating for patients pain control to improve function and quality of life.

Ashley Comer, NP

Ashley Comer is an AANP Board Certified Nurse Practitioner at The Spine and Nerve Center of the Virginias. She has become a leader in advanced practice provider education in both the United States and in the international community. Ashley has served on several society committees in leadership positions establishing training protocols and programs to enhance the field of Interventional Spine and Nerve treatment. She also has played a role in many device and procedural studies to achieve Food and Drug Administration approval or enhanced patient access. Born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Ashley attended WVSCTC where she obtained her associate degree in Nursing. Continuing her education, she went on to receive her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from West Virginia University. Graduating with honors, she completed her Masters of Science in Nursing with Family Nurse Practitioner specialization from Walden University. Ashley’s professional interests include implantable therapies, minimally invasive procedures, and research.

Harold Cordner, MD

Harold J. Cordner, MD, FIPP, ABIPP, is certified in anesthesiology and pain management by the American Board of Anesthesiology and in interventional pain management by the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians. He received his medical degree from St. George’s University School of Medicine. Dr. Cordner completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in anesthesiology at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, NJ. He is past-president of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians and past president of the Florida Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. He serves on the board of both of those societies as well as numerous national and international pain societies. He frequently lectures and teaches physicians advanced interventional pain procedures nationally and internationally. He serves as an associate clinical professor at Florida State University School of Medicine and is on the editorial board of Pain Physician and Neuromodulation. Dr. Cordner has received numerous prestigious awards from his peers including “Outstanding Clinical Excellence” and “Lifetime Achievement” awards. Consumers Research Council of America named Dr. Cordner one of “America’s Top Physicians.”

Sukdeb Datta, MD

Dr. Sukdeb Datta is the Founder, CEO, and President of Datta Endoscopic Back Surgery and Pain Center. Under his leadership, the Center has grown to 9 locations serving the states of New York and New Jersey. He is a Diplomat, American Board of Anesthesiology and Diplomat, American Board of Pain Medicine with Subspecialty Certification in Pain Management. He is also certified as FIPP (Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice) and by the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians as a DABIPP (Diplomat, American Board of Interventional Pain Practice). He is an ASIPP lifetime member. Dr. Datta has served on the Board of Directors of ASIPP for two consecutive terms (2007-2011) and as Secretary of ASIPP from 2011-2013. Executive committee, ASIPP 2017-2021; Treasurer, ASIPP; Vice President, Strategic Affairs 2019-2021, ASIPP; Vice President, Strategic Alliance 2017-2019, ASIPP. He has been intimately involved in different activities of ASIPP such as publishing systematic reviews, being on the editorial board of the Pain Physician journal as well as performing as Faculty on the Cadaver Workshops for the past several years. Dr. Datta also strongly believes in the advocacy arm of ASIPP and has participated actively in the legislative sessions for the past several years. Board of Directors ABIPP; Board of Examiners, ABIPP; Economic and Finance Committee, ASIPP; 2011-Internet and Social Media Committee, ASIPP; 2011-Research Committee, ASIPP; 2014-Committee on Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Spine, ASIPP. He is a two-time winner (2012,2014) of ASIPP “Outstanding Achievement in Research” for work on Endoscopic discectomy and the New Techniques of performance of Cervical Epidural Injection. He was the Section Editor, of Endoscopic Spine, of Pain Physician Journal 2017-2022.

Miles Day, MD

Miles R. Day, MD (Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock). Dr. Day is the medical director of The Pain Center at Grace Clinic, pain fellowship program director at Texas Tech, and the Traweek-Racz Endowed Professor in Pain Research in the Department of Anesthesiology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Anesthesiology with subspecialty certification in Pain Medicine. He also serves as an examiner for the World Institute of Pain. Previously, he served as the director and associate professor at the Eugene McDermott Center for Pain Management at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He serves on the editorial boards of Pain Practice and Pain Physician. He is the past-president of the Texas Pain Society and past-chair of the Board of Examination for the World Institute of Pain. Dr. Day received his medical degree from Texas A&M University Health Science Center in College Station and completed his general surgery internship at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. He completed his anesthesiology residency and pain fellowship at Texas Tech as well. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters in well-known publications. He has educated physicians globally to further the specialty of interventional pain medicine.

Timothy Deer, MD

Dr. Deer is the world leader in research, product development, and education in the practice of Interventional Spine and Pain treatment. He is the President and CEO of The Spine and Nerve Centers of the Virginias. He is also a Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at the West Virginia University School of Medicine. Dr. Deer has been a leader in the field of interventional techniques and neuromodulation for more than two decades. His enduring research career has included many pivotal studies to achieve FDA approval and many “first in human” approved devices. Dr. Deer has provided cadaver-based training to over 3000 physicians in novel methods of pain relief to improve function and relieve suffering. His work has led to more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, several book chapters, and many classic textbooks. Dr. Deer has held many national and international society positions including his current roles as the Chairman of the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience, Past President of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS), and President Emeritus of the West Virginia Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (WVSIPP). He is the Past Chairman of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Committee of Pain Medicine and a Charter Member of the West Virginia Controlled Substance Monitoring Program and has been involved in the peer review process to improve the quality of research in the international arena. In addition to his many endeavors in Medicine, Dr. Deer is an accomplished endurance athlete., with accolades including winning the Ultrarunning World Masters Championship in the Badwater 135-mile run in 2021 and competing in the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii on many occasions. Dr. Deer is blessed with a more than 30-year marriage to his wife, Melissa, and has four children.

Rodrigo Díez Tafur, MD

Dr. Díez Tafur did his Pain Medicine Fellowship at McGill University. Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit- Montreal General Hospital, Canada. He is Certified by the World Institute of Pain (WIP) with both, FIPP and CIPS certifications and has an MSc degree in Pain Study and Treatment from Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid, Spain. He is a BOARD Certified Physiatrist with an Expert Diploma in MSK Ultrasound trained at Severo Ochoa University Hospital in Madrid, Spain. Born and raised in Lima, Perú. Dr. Díez Tafur moved back to Lima in 2018 aiming to provide high standards of care for pain-suffering patients and educate in this field. He is currently leading a private hospital’s pain service and is the Medical Director of two private pain centers in Lima, Peru.

Sudhir Diwan, MD

Dr. Sudhir Diwan, nationally and internationally recognized as a key opinion leader in the field of pain management, is the President, Park Avenue Spine and Pain, New York, Associate Clinical Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York. Dr. Diwan was the former Director of the Tri-Institutional Pain Fellowship Program and Division of Pain Medicine at Ivy League Weill Medical College of Cornell University for more than a decade, where he also served as associate professor of clinical anesthesiology, and on the faculty at the world renowned New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Dr. Diwan has published extensively in prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals and medical books on a variety of pain management topics. He is on the Editorial Board for the Pain Physician – an official journal of the American Society of Pain Physicians (ASIPP) since 2008, and Pain Practice – official journal of World Institute of Pain (WIP) since 2009. He was invited Guest Editor for Journal of Techniques in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management 2009. Dr. Diwan is the Examiner for the Certification Board for American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians (ABIPP) and Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP) offered by the World Institute of Pain. Dr. Diwan is Co-Editor for Intrathecal Drug Delivery for Pain and Spasticity, Vol 2, Timothy Deer, Series Editor, Elsevier-Saunders 2012, and Co-Editor for Diwan-Staats’s Atlas of Pain Medicine Procedures, McGraw Hill Education 2015, and Advanced Procedures for Pain Management, A step-by-step Atlas, Springer US, 2018.
In addition to his busy pain management practice in New York City, Dr. Diwan lectures extensively and interacts regularly with experts in the field of pain medicine nationally and internationally. He has been guest speaker for many noteworthy organizations including the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), and State Societies Pain Meetings, the World Institute of Pain, NANS, INS, and numerous International pain specialty societies and congresses nationally and internationally. Currently he is Executive Director of NYSIPP and Course Chairman of the Annual NYSIPP/NJSIPP Pain Medicine Symposium, and President of ASIPP.

Brian Durkin, DO

Dr. Brian Durkin is the Medical Director of the Pain Institute of Long Island and leads the team toward the highest quality pain care available. He has been a leader in this field for the last decade and is relentless in his pursuit to provide the most up-to-date pain treatments on Long Island. Dr. Durkin is often “the first” to introduce a new treatment option to either Suffolk County or Long Island. He performed the first MILD procedure in Suffolk County in 2010. He performed the first Nevro HF-10 high-frequency spinal cord stimulator trials and implants on Long Island in 2015. He performed the first Dorsal Root Ganglion (DRG) spinal cord stimulator trials and implants in Suffolk County in 2016 and was the first physician to offer the Vertiflex option for spinal stenosis in 2017. In August 2018, Dr. Durkin became the first physician in New York and the Northeast part of the USA to perform the Intracept Procedure for patients suffering from chronic low back pain. Dr. Durkin attended medical school near his hometown at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona, and graduated in 2001. He moved east for his training and completed his internship at UMDNJ in Stratford, New Jersey in 2002, before moving to Long Island and completing his residency in anesthesiology at Stony Brook University in 2005. He then completed his fellowship in pain medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, and New York Presbyterian-Cornell in 2006. He was recruited back to Stony Brook University as an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology where he began treating patients with interventional pain management. He became the Director of the Center for Pain Management and Division Chief of Chronic Pain in 2009. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012. Dr. Durkin left Stony Brook University in 2015 to establish the Pain Institute of Long Island. Dr. Durkin is involved in several national and international pain societies and is currently the President of the New York Society of Interventional Pain Physicians.

Tolga Ergonenc, MD (Turkey)

Dr. Ergonenc is an anesthesiologist who is working on ultrasound-guided interventions and musculoskeletal sonography. Ergonenc joined Sakarya University Education and Research Hospital in 2006 also he is currently head of the Akyazı Pain and Traditional and Complementary Medicine Unit. He has adopted the multimodal approach to pain management, which includes pharmacotherapy, therapeutic, and diagnostic interventions and requires close cooperation with physiatrists, psychiatrists, orthopedic surgeons, and neurosurgeons. He has been invited to many international pain cadaver workshops on ultrasound-guided interventions, and he delivered many speeches at international meetings on ultrasound in pain.

Steven Falowski, MD

- Board Certified Functional Neurosurgeon
- Director Functional Neurosurgery
- Neurosurgical Associates of Lancaster
- Board of Directors, International Neuromodulation Society
- Senior Advisor, Past Secretary, North American Neuromodulation Society
- President Elect-Executive Pain Committee, Congress Neurological Surgeons/American Association Neurological Surgeons
- Executive Officer of the Board, American Society Pain and Neuroscience

Fadi Farah, MD

Dr. Farah is a well-versed anesthesiologist & interventional pain management physician who can be found on staff within the Department of Anesthesiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Plymouth, MA
The mission of the Department of Anesthesiology is to provide cutting-edge anesthesia care to its patients. The Department accomplishes this goal by employing a first-rate team of anesthesiology specialists in such areas as pediatrics, cardiology, neurology, obstetrics, and pain medicine.
In order to stay up to date in his field, he remains a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, The New York & New Jersey Interventional Pain Society, Spine Intervention Society, the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Massacusetts and the North American Spine Society.
A 2009 graduate of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the Lebanese University, Dr. Farah went on to complete his training at the American University of Beirut and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. This was followed by a fellowship at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center.
Licensed to practice medicine in several states, the doctor is board-certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine by the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), whose mission is to advance the highest standards of the practice of anesthesiology. As the certifying body for anesthesiologists since 1938, the ABA is committed to partnering with physicians to advance lifelong learning and exceptional patient care.
He treats pain with invasive interventions such as facet joint injections, nerve blocks, neuromodulation, vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, nucleoplasty, endoscopic discectomy, and implantable drug delivery system.
In addition to English, he speaks Arabic and French.

Robert Galler, DO, MPH

Robert M. Galler, DO, MPH, has been appointed director of neurosurgery at Peconic Bay Medical Center and neurosurgical spine for Northwell Health’s Eastern Region.
Dr. Galler previously served as director of spine surgery at Peconic Bay Medical Center from 2004-2015. He spent the past year as a consulting surgeon at Maine Spine Surgery in Portland, ME.
After graduating from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine with honors as a neuroscience fellow, Dr. Galler completed his residency in neurosurgery at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, NY. He then did two fellowships in complex spinal neurosurgery and minimally invasive spinal neurosurgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, and the University of Tennessee in Memphis, TN respectively. Most recently, Dr. Galler also received a master’s degree in health care policy and administration at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in Manhattan.
Dr. Galler has served as associate professor in neurosurgery and orthopedics and co-director of the Comprehensive Spine Center at Stony Brook University and was as an attending neurosurgeon at various hospitals on Long Island, including John T. Mather Hospital and St. Charles Hospital.
Dr. Galler has received numerous awards and professional recognitions, including being named as Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and Outstanding Surgeon Educator at Stony Brook University Hospital. He is a member of several prestigious organizations including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, AO Spine International, Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the North American Spine Society.

Meredith George, SCP-PM

Meredith George has over 30 years of experience in medical coding/billing, working with health plans and medical device manufacturers. Throughout her career, she has cultivated an intimate understanding of Medicare and Third-Party payor coding, coverage, and payment systems. She has been successful at securing numerous procedure coverage policies, as well as establishing candidacy criteria. Meredith is actively involved with various Pain Management organizations such as ASIPP, Texas Pain Society, NY/NJ Pain Symposium, and the World Institute of Pain often lobbying on behalf of Pain Management coverage and reimbursement issues. She has testified on behalf of interventional pain on various issues with State Workers Compensation groups as well as Medicare Administrative Contractors. In 2011 she developed a “Business of Practicing Medicine” program for Pain Fellowships and has lectured to more than 30 programs annually across the country. Meredith is credentialed through the Board of Medical Specialty Coding as a Specialty Coding Professional in Pain Management, as well as a Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management Expert from the American Society for Interventional Pain Physicians.

Christopher Gharibo, MD

Christopher Gharibo, MD is a Professor with the Departments of Anesthesiology, Peri-Operative Care & Pain Medicine as well as Orthopedics at NYU School of Medicine and serves as the Medical Director of Pain Medicine at NYU Langone Hospitals Center. Dr. Gharibo obtained his M.D. degree from Rutgers Medical School in 1992 and completed his anesthesiology residency at NYU Medical Center. He served his Pain Medicine fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology and holds subspecialty certification in Pain Medicine. His acute pain experience has included developing system-wide use of interventional techniques in combination with nonopioids and opioids as part of multimodal pain management pathways. He has been instrumental in developing and overseeing the pain medicine department at NYU that has been able to develop pain medicine policy and procedure focused on acute and chronic pain, from implementing a system of pain assessments based on functional gains to making pain visible on NYU’s census boards to opioid prescribing policy and pain safety oversight that focuses on pharmacological and interventional pain management. His areas of clinical expertise also includes low back and neck pain of musculoskeletal and spinal origin and neuropathic pain syndromes such as painful peripheral neuropathies and CRPS. His areas of technical expertise include nerve blocks, peripheral and spinal injection techniques for diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain syndromes including joint injections, epidural steroid injections, nerve root blocks, facet injections, facet nerve blocks, radiofrequency rhizotomy as well as drug delivery systems and spinal cord stimulators. Many of these injections can provide diagnostic answers and be tailored to provide prolonged pain relief and functional improvement when used as part of an overall plan of care.

Christopher Gilligan, MD

Christopher J. Gilligan, M.D. is the Chief of the Division of Pain Medicine at the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA.
Medical School: Yale University, 1996
Residency: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Surgery, 1998; Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Emergency Medicine, 2007
Fellowship: Massachusetts General Hospital, Anesthesia/Pain Medicine Fellowship, 2008
Certifications: Emergency Medicine, 2008; Pain Medicine, 2009
Clinical Interests: Back pain; cancer pain
Dr. Gilligan’s original training is in Emergency Medicine, with subspecialty training in Pain Medicine, where he has focused on pain of spinal origin. Dr. Gilligan’s clinical expertise is focused on the treatment of pain related to disorders of the spine. He also treats patients with a wide range of pain conditions, including cancer-related pain, complex regional pain syndrome, and post-herpetic neuralgia. Dr. Gilligan’s research focuses on clinical trials of new interventions, devices, and medications for the treatment of pain.

Stanley Golovac, MD

As a board-certified Pain Medicine Physician, Dr. Golovac is the former President and CEO of Space Coast Pain Institute, in Cape Canaveral Florida. He has collaborated with, and educated physicians all around the world, on advanced interventional pain procedures, both as a private consultant and as an assistant clinical professor of anesthesia at the University of Miami’s Jackson Memorial Medical Center. In addition, Dr. Golovac is the editor Image Guided Spine Interventions, of Space Coast Medical News, serves as the medical director of Surgery Partners, is writing a new chapter on spinal cord stimulation (SCS), is a member of seven different medical societies, serves on many committees, has been a visiting professor in places like Brazil, Chile, Norway, Finland, Copenhagen, Belgium, Columbia, and most major US Cities; He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. He is a loving husband to his wife Elena, and their two beautiful children, Alexandra and Conrad – one attended Boston University, and the other followed in his footsteps at the University of Miami. Dr. Golovac has improved the lives of thousands of patients by offering spinal cord stimulation early in his algorithm of treatment. He has a focus on wellness and healing and defining the root cause of their problems.

Casey Grillo, NP

Casey Grillo is a certified Nurse Practitioner at The Spine & Pain Institute of NY and has recently transitioned into the role of Lead Advanced Practice provider for the practice. She collaborates with her physicians, managing and educating patients of all ages with chronic pain. Casey received her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Seton Hall University and a Master’s degree in Science of Nursing from Wagner College. Casey stays engaged in the field of pain management through participation in various pain societies, serving as faculty for NYNJSIPP, ASPN, and NANS. One of her goals as a nurse practitioner is to promote and educate the advancement of other APP’s, maximizing their roles in the field of neuromodulation in order to improve patient outcomes.

Karina Gritsenko, MD

Dr. Gritsenko is a Professor of Anesthesiology, Family & Social Medicine, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; She is Program Director for the ACGME accredited Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine fellowship and core member of the Montefiore Multidisciplinary Pain Program. She has a passion for teaching and spends a significant portion of her clinical time training residents and fellows in both acute pain and chronic pain settings. She also has authored multiple textbooks and articles on topics related to chronic pain, regional anesthesiology, and acute pain medicine. She is honored to be part of Nysipp year after year and considers this meeting her academic family and home.

Carlos Guerrero, MD

Anesthesiologist and pain specialist with over 20 years of uninterrupted clinical and teaching experience at Fundacion Santa Fe in Bogota, Colombia. Associate Professor at University El Bosque and University of Los Andes in Bogota. Former Director of the Specialization Program in Pain Management and Palliative Care at University El Bosque. Fellow in Interventional Pain Practice at the World Institute of Pain (WIP). President of the Quality in Medical Care Committee at Fundacion Santa Fe in Bogota. Former President and current Treasurer of the Colombian chapter of the World Institute of Pain (WIP), and founding member and current Treasurer of the Latin American Pain Society (LAPS)

Amitabh Gulati, MD

Amitabh Gulati is an anesthesiologist and pain medicine physician currently practicing in New York City. He is an associate professor and Director of Chronic Pain, specializing in interventional cancer pain management, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, completed his anesthesiology residency at Emory University School of Medicine, and obtained his pain management fellowship diploma from Weill Cornell School of Medicine in 2007. Furthermore, Dr. Gulati completed his acupuncture certification at the Helms Medical Institute in 2007 and is licensed to practice in the state of New York. He is currently the program director of the Weill Cornell pain management fellowship in New York City. He regularly gives lectures and teaches at workshops on topics involving ultrasound-guided pain procedures, interventional procedures in cancer pain management, and neuromodulation techniques for oncologic pain. His current research involves the use of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) for the treatment of neuropathic pain and the study of interventional paradigms for cancer pain medicine. He is involved in multiple educational societies as a teaching faculty or board member in the field of pain medicine. He is currently the President of the World Academy of Pain Medicine United (WAPMU).

Roger Hartl, MD

Roger Härtl, M.D., is the Hansen-MacDonald Professor of Neurological Surgery and Director of Neurosurgery Spine at the Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center in New York. In addition, he is the Founder and Director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Center for Comprehensive Spine Care as well as Weill Cornell’s Global Neurosurgery Initiative in Tanzania. He also serves as the official neurosurgeon for the New York Giants Football Team.
Dr. Härtl’s clinical interest focuses on simple and complex spine surgery for degenerative conditions, tumors, and trauma as well as biological approaches for disc repair and regeneration. He is a world-renowned pioneer and leader in minimally invasive spinal surgery and computer-assisted spinal navigation surgery and augmented reality. He is actively involved in improving neurosurgical care in emerging countries as the leader of Weill Cornell’s Global Neurosurgery Initiative in Tanzania. In order to achieve the very best in patient outcomes, Dr. Härtl’s practice emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to spinal disease. He collaborates closely with other specialists such as neurologists, pain specialists, sports medicine doctors and physical therapists.
His patients come from all over the globe and include many physicians, surgeons, and even other neurological spine surgeons. He has been repeatedly named to the lists of New York Super Doctors, America’s Top Surgeons, and America’s Best Doctors, and has been included on the list of New York’s Best Doctors in New York magazine. He has authored more than 250 scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals and is the editor of four books on minimally invasive spinal surgery and biological disc repair and regeneration. He is the 2022 recipient of the AANS Humanitarian Award, one of the highest honors bestowed by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Dr. Härtl has provided commentary for numerous television shows on ABC, NBC, and CBS in addition to national radio shows. His expertise has been sought through interviews in the New York Times, The New York Post, The New York Daily News, and other media outlets.

Neeraj Jain, MD (India)

Neeraj Jain, MBBS, MD, FIMSA, CIPS (Hungary), FIPP (USA)
Senior Consultant Spine & Pain Specialist
Spine & Pain Clinics & Yashoda Super speciality Hospitals, & Sri Balaji Action Hospital
Education
M.B.B.S. in 1982 from Maulana Azad Medical College, M.D. in 1988 from Delhi University, New Delhi, Senior Residency in 1989 from AIIMS New Delhi, FIPP (USA) Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice Cleveland Clinic -in 2010, CIPS (Hungary) Certified Interventional Pain Sonologist in 2017, FIMSA at AJMAN, UAE on October 6, 2012. Training in pain management from AIIMS, John Hopkins, spine pain clinics, New Jersey & Texas, USA.
Experience
210+ national, international presentations & lectures, Conducted live web-interactive National web Pain Conference. Heading Pain Clinics at major north Delhi Hospitals, Pioneer in Advance Interventional Pain Management procedures.
Accomplishment/Awards
Published many papers in different journals national & international repute & is on editorial board of them. Delegate at revered “International Pain Summit 2010” at Canada for “Montreal Declaration” of “Pain Relief is Human Right”, observer-Examiner at World Pain Congress New York FIPP Examination in 2016, Coordinator for cadaver workshop at International Conference on Interventional Pain Management (ICIPM) 2012 at AIIMS by WIP (USA) & many such.
Area of Interest
Teaching & mentoring upcoming Pain specialists by Conducting numerous Live Pain workshops cum CME.
Television & Radio Awareness programs as health expert on pain management & multiple newspaper articles published, Faculty for certified basic & advance interventional pain management techniques international courses. Pioneered non-surgical percutaneous fluoroscopic, ultrasound or CT-guided pain management interventional procedures in spine disc disease, fracture spine, cancer, MSK, neuralgias and chronic pain diseases.
Large series of successful Percutaneous needle Discectomy with Balloon Neuroplasty, Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty to his credit Including world record work of six level vertebroplasties, Actively Participated & Interacted with world leaders in pain management at world congresses 2005 Sydney Australia, 2008 Glasgow UK, 2010 Montreal Canada, 2012 Miami USA, 2014 Nantes France, 2014 Maastricht Netherlands, 2014 Toronto Canada, 2016 New York USA & WCMISST2016, South Korea, 2017 Medan Indonesia & 2017 Budapest, Hungary. 2018 Budapest, 2018 Beijing DBS World Congress, 2019 Stem Cell Int. Congress Havana, Cuba, 2022 SARPS Pain Congress, Dhaka, 2022 NYNJ International Pain Symposium, New Jersey, USA.

Hemant Kalia, MD

Dr. Kalia specializes in interventional pain and cancer rehabilitation with special expertise in advanced neuromodulation and minimally invasive spine procedures. He earned his medical degree from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, Indore India, and a Master’s degree in Public Health from Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green KY. His first residency was in Preventive Medicine & Public Health followed by Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Rochester. He subsequently completed a fellowship in Pain Medicine from the University of Rochester and additional FIPP (Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice) certification from the World Institute of Pain, Budapest Hungary. He is the President & CEO of C.R.I.S.P (Center for Research and Innovation in Spine & Pain) and Managing Medical Director of InvisionHealth, Rochester NY. As part of the faculty at numerous national/international professional societies, he is involved in teaching and mentoring both fellows and young neuromodulators. He also serves as an examiner for the reputable FIPP certification course through the World Institute of Pain. He served as an Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Clinical Medical Research & Health Care Delivery open access Journal and currently serves on the editorial board for numerous pain and neuromodulation journals. He continues to play an important role in advocacy and policy initiatives at the local, state, and federal level through his role as President of Monroe County Medical Society and by serving on numerous boards and committees of professional societies.

Leonardo Kapural, MD, PhD

Leonardo Kapural, M.D., Ph.D. is a Pain Physician at the Carolinas Pain Institute and Center for Clinical Research. He is also a member of the clinical faculty of Wake Forest University, School of Medicine. Dr. Kapural served as a Professor of Anesthesiology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University and Wake Forest University over the last 15 years. Dr. Kapural’s interests include spinal cord stimulation, discogenic low back pain, and visceral abdominal and pelvic pain. Dr. Kapural is an active member of a number of professional organizations including the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, North American and International Neuromodulation Societies, and the World Institute of Pain. In addition, he is an invited speaker to many national and international meetings. He served as Director-At-Large of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and International Neuromodulation Society, and currently is the Director-At-Large of the North American Neuromodulation Society. Dr. Kapural’s experience is broad and encompasses teaching and clinical education, extensive research, and innovations in the area of pain treatments which brought him two Innovator Awards. His noteworthy research findings have been published in more than 160 journal articles, more than 200 abstracts, two books, and 35 book chapters. He is listed by his peers in the “Best Doctors in America”.

Andrew Kaufman, MD

Dr. Kaufman is an award winning educator and physician. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, the Columbia-Presbyterian Anesthesiology Program and the Harvard/Longwood Pain Fellowship. Currently he is a Professor of Anesthesiology at Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, directing the Division of Pain Management
as well as the Pain Fellowship Program.

Jennifer Kirschenbaum, Esq

Jennifer Kirschenbaum, Esq., counsel to the NY/NJ Interventional Pain Symposium, is the managing partner of K&K’s healthcare department, and represents ASCs and physicians with contracts, compliance, patient and employee issues. Jennifer is available at the Symposium to discuss employment contracts, buy-ins, practice purchase / sale, ASC syndication, private equity backed initiatives and general practice matters. Jennifer can be reached at (516) 747-6700 x. 302 or Jennifer@Kirschenbaumesq.com. To join K&K’s free healthcare newsletter, visit K&K’s booth at the Symposium.

Kristen Klein, AGNP-C

Kristen is a native Long Islander. She attended Adelphi University for her undergraduate, where she received a BS in Nursing in 2007. After graduating, she worked in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Stony Brook Medicine for eight years. she completed her MS in Nursing in 2015 at SBU, with a certification in Adult Gerontology. Kristen continued to work as a Nurse Practitioner in the trauma division at Stony Brook for the next three years. She joined the Pain Institute of Long Island in 2018. Here, she is treating patients with various conditions, providing the most cutting-edge and minimally invasive therapies. Kristen has a passion for providing competent and compassionate care to her patients. She enjoys the challenge of pain medicine, the innovation in treatment and procedures, as well as the interactions and relationships she develops with her patients. Additionally, she enjoys educating fellow Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants about some of the most cutting-edge pain management therapies.

Lakshmi Koyyalagunta, MD

Lakshmi Koyyalagunta is currently a Professor in the Department of Pain Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She completed her medical education and diploma in Anesthesiology at Grant Medical College, Mumbai, India. She then did her Anesthesiology residency at U Mass, Worcester, MA; and her fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess, Harvard, Boston, MA. She is also board-certified in Addiction Medicine. She has a keen interest in interventional therapies for cancer pain and opioid misuse in the cancer population especially in the perioperative setting. She has more than 30 peer-reviewed articles, and numerous abstracts and chapters. She is the president-elect of the Texas Pain society and a member of the American Board of Anesthesiology Pain Board examination committee.

Robert Levy, MD, PhD

Robert M. Levy, M.D., Ph.D., is an internationally recognized neurosurgeon and currently holds the position of Editor-in-Chief of Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface. He is the immediate Past-President of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS). He earned his medical degree and Ph.D. in neurosciences from Stanford University and the Stanford University Medical School. He performed post-doctoral fellowships at Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco. During his academic career, he has been a tenured full Professor of Neurosurgery, Physiology, and Radiation Oncology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He has served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery and Co-Director of the University of Florida Health Sciences in Jacksonville, Florida. He most recently served as the Founding Director of the Marcus Neuroscience Institute and Director of the Harvey Sandler Center for Neurosurgery in Boca Raton, Florida. He has been the recipient of many national and international honors and awards and has been listed in the Best Doctors in America. He has authored several textbooks and published over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles. His current research involves novel applications of neurostimulation and targeted drug delivery to the brain. In addition, he has assisted with the design and implementation of multiple neuromodulation technologies and devices.

Sean Li, MD

Sean Li, M.D. specializes in interventional pain management. His clinical interest is in neuromodulation therapy such as spinal cord stimulation, high-frequency stimulation, dorsal root ganglion stimulation, and peripheral nerve stimulation. Prior to joining National Spine & Pain Centers, Dr. Li served as the medical director of Premier Pain Centers LLC. In addition to his work at National Spine & Pain Centers, Dr. Li continues to serve as an attending physician at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, NJ, and Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, NJ. Dr. Li serves on the Education Committee and Young Neuromodulators Committee at the International Neuromodulation Committee (INS), is a director at large for the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN), and is the current president of the New Jersey Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (NJSIPP). Dr. Li earned his medical degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and underwent residency training in general surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and later in anesthesiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. He completed his fellowship in interventional pain medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

Philippe Mavrocordatos, MD (Switzerland)

Prof. Mavrocordatos is the founder and CEO of the Swiss Pain Institute, Lausanne, Switzerland. The Institute is dedicated to interdisciplinary pain patient care, education, teaching, and clinical research. Board-certified in Anesthesiology in 1995, he moved from Switzerland to Australia to complete his fellowship in Multidisciplinay Pain Management (Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney). Back in 1997 in Switzerland after 2 years, he was appointed « Head of the Department of Anesthesiology Intensive Care and Pain Management » in the Ensemble Hospitalier Nord Vaudois, (eHnV). In 1999 he also founded the Multidiciplinary Pain management in Clinique Cecil in Lausanne, ISO 9001 certified in 2004. In 2002, he developed with his colleagues the interventional pain clinic in Geneva University Hospital. Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP) since 2006, he has been an examiner for the Budapest FIPP exams since 2008 and Chairman of WIP for Switzerland since 2008 until 2015. Since, he served as honorary secretary in the Executive Board of the World Institute of Pain and now as member of the examination board. Since 2014, he is invited Professor at Athens University. His clinical activity now is mainly in the Swiss Pain Institute in Lausanne. Lecturer in numerous international pain management meetings worldwide every year he is also the chairman and organizer of the National Swiss Pain Congress since 2009. The Swiss Pain Institute is training nurses, physiotherapists during three month internships, part of the HES program (Hautes Ecoles Specialisées). The institute is also in charge for the pre-graduate education in pain (Geneva University). Every year 3 positions are opened for a 1 year international fellowship dedicated to train advanced pain physician from Switzerland and abroad. Lecturer in numerous international pain management meetings worldwide every year. Persistant spinal pain, visceral pain, neuropathic pain and cancer pain are the most common pathologies seen in our pain institute. Our team includes 6 pain physicians, 5 nurses, 2 physiotherapist, 1 psychologist and 1 psychiatrist. The institute is recognized as center class A by the Helvetic Medical Federation.

Patrick McGinn, PA

Patrick McGinn is a nationally certified physician assistant specializing in interventional pain management at National Spine and Pain Centers in Shrewsbury, NJ. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in sociology and concentration in health care delivery at Roanoke College. He then went on to earn his Master of Science in Physician Assistant studies at Stony Brook University. He has worked in the Interventional Pain Management space for approximately seven years. He takes great pride in problem-solving and formulating an individualized treatment plan for each of his patients. Patrick currently resides in Central New Jersey and enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family, and spoiling his nieces and nephew.

Jesus Medina, MD

Dr Jesus Medina is a Certified Interventional Pain Sonologist (CIPS) and Former President of Sociedad Mexicana de Ultrasonido en Dolor (SMUD). Dr. Medina earned his Medical Degree from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara College of Medicine in Guadalajara, Mexico, and specialized in Anesthesiologist and Pain Management and Palliative Medicine from the University of Guadalajara (CUCS). He’s been dedicated to his practice for more than 10 years, and opts for non-surgical treatments, when indicated, before considering the option of surgery.

Neel Mehta, MD

Neel D. Mehta, M.D., is the Director of the Weill Cornell Pain Management Center and an Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He also serves as a Co-Director of the Center for Comprehensive Spine Care. He is President of the Eastern Pain Association and Director-at Large-of the New York Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. Dr. Mehta completed his fellowship in Interventional Pain Medicine in the Tri-Institutional Pain Medicine Fellowship at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, and Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Felipe Mejia, MD

Medical anesthesiologist fellow pain and palliative care. Past president of the Colombian Association for the Study of Pain ACED. Director of the Neurocentro pain program (pereira, Colombia).

Jee Yoon Moon, MD, PhD

Jee Youn Moon is a tenured professor at the Dep. of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine of Seoul National University (SNU) College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea. She is the Chief Director of the Pain Center at the SNU hospital. She is currently a Director of the International Coop and Academic Board of the Korean Pain Society, CRPS SIG Secretary in IASP, and BoE member in WIP. Her clinical interests are in managing CRPS, cancer pain, ultrasound-guided pain interventions, and epidural and facet blocks. She has published about 100 articles, including “Botulinum toxin type A for lumbar sympathetic ganglion block in CRPS (2022)” in ANESTHESIOLOGY. Jee Youn received an Award for Excellent Research Prize 6 times from the Korean Pain Society and won the Best Speaker Award from the same society for the field of ultrasound-guided pain medicine.

Annu Navani, MD

Dr. Annu Navani is the Chief Medical Officer of Boomerang Healthcare, the leader in interventional and multidisciplinary spine, musculoskeletal, and orthopedic care. Boomerang is a large multispecialty group practice with 350 medical providers that operates via multiple state of the art centers in Northern and Southern California and Nevada.
Dr. Navani is an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor at Division of Pain, Stanford University School of Medicine. She also serves as an Advisor to Le Reve Regenerative Wellness, the center for cutting edge restorative and regenerative solutions for clinical applications and research.
Dr. Navani completed her Anesthesiology residency from Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and Fellowship in Pain Medicine from the University of California, Davis. She is board certified in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine by American Board of Anesthesiology, in Interventional Pain by American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians, Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice and in Regenerative Medicine by American Board of Regenerative Medicine and American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians.
She sits on the Editorial board of the journal, Pain Physician and serves on the board of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, California Society of Industrial Medicine and Surgery and California Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. She is the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Association of Interventional Pain Physicians, The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin and The Postgraduate Assembly in Anesthesiology.
She has extensive publications in the field of Interventional spine and Regenerative medicine and has contributed via several peer reviewed journal articles, visionary editorials and book chapters. Her book, “Essentials of Regenerative Medicine” is first in its right illustrating latest interventional techniques in spine and musculoskeletal interventions. She has also been instrumental in authoring several National Guidelines including the ones on Opioids, Interventional Spine Epidural procedures, Facet joints, and Biologics in Lumbar spine.
Her vision is to forward the field of Interventional Pain and Regenerative Medicine by using technological innovations to improve access, decrease health care costs and maximize quality and efficacy.

Victor Pacheco, MD

Dr Victor Pacheco (Brazil)- Specialist in Orthopedics and Traumatology – UNICAMP; Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon by SBOT; Board Certified Pain Physian by the Assoicação Médica Brasileira; Board Certified – Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice FIPP – World Institute of Pain; Board Certified – American Academy of Regenerative Medicine; Coordinator of Advanced Regenerative Medicine; Board of the Latin American Pain Society and sinpain course of interventional pain. Former Santos Futebol Clube Team Psysician.

Jen-Li Pan, MD

Jen-Li Pan is a physiatrist and certified CIPS specialized in ultrasound-guided regenerative pain interventions. For years, he has innovated a “Release-Regenerate Coupling (R2C)” theory which may be well applied to most chronic, intractable, peripheral MSK pain patients. Recently, Dr. Pan also found that adhesions/scarring within intra- and extra-muscular tendinous tissues might be a key pain generator (yet often clinically neglected), and ultrasound-guided “hydrotenolysis” may play a pivoting role in releasing these painful tendons.

Jaclyn Pappas, NP

Jaclyn Pappas is an advanced practice nurse at The Spine & Pain Institute of New York. She practices alongside Dr. Kiran Patel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Long Island in an interventional pain practice focusing on neuromodulatory and intrathecal therapies. Prior to working in pain, Jaclyn specialized in Endocrinology and Diabetes working as a certified diabetes educator. As an individual with Type 1 Diabetes, Jaclyn recognized the gaps in communication between healthcare providers and patients. She applies this experience to her work in interventional pain management by blending humanism with the technical aspects of treatment allowing patients to be active participants in their care.

Juan De La Cruz Pineda, MD

Juan de la Cruz Pineda Pérez MD FIPP Medical Staff Member of Hospital Aranda de la Parra, León Guanajuato Mx. Acute Pain, Chronic Pain, Regional Anesthesia, Interventional Pain Management. Pain Medicine Fellow for Instituto Nacional de Cancerología (INCan) Mexico City. Master in Palliative Medicine & Supportive Management Cataluña University Spain. Regional Anesthesia, Acute Pain, Cancer Pain Interventional Management in Montreal General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal Qc, Canada Certified for World Institute of Pain (WIP) as a Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP) Board of Asociación Mexicana para el Estudio y Tratamiento del Dolor (AMETD) 20-22 and 22-24 Member of Sociedad Mexicana de Ultrasonido en Dolor (SMUD).

Ricardo Plancarte Sanchez, MD

Prof. Plancarte, trained in Anesthesiology and intensive care, to later specialize in interventional pain management. He founded the Pain Clinic of the National Institute of Cancerology in Mexico and has been the creator of 5 original techniques in interventional pain management, which are already part of the armamentary of interventional cancer pain treatment. He is a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and has a Doctorate in Medicine research and is a member of the National System of Researchers in Mexico.

Vinay Puttaniah, MD

Dr. Puttaniah is a board-certified anesthesiologist with additional expertise and training in pain medicine. As a member of both the Anesthesiology Service and the Pain Service in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, his clinical work involves delivering anesthesia as well as treating postoperative pain. He also treats cancer pain using medications, nerve blocks, intrathecal drug delivery systems, radiofrequency techniques, and neurolytic blocks. He regularly supervises and teaches clinical fellows.

Gabor B. Racz, MD

Grover Murray Professor and TTUHSC Endowed Chair
Professor and Chairman Emeritus Department of Anesthesiology
Past President of Texas Pain Society
Founder and Past President of World Institute of Pain
Dr. Racz graduated The University of Liverpool Medical School, completed his residency at SUNY Upstate Medical Center and served at SUNY from 1966-1977 when he moved to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center where he served until 2016 as co-director of Pain Services at Grace Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas. Dr. Racz is a founder and past president of World Institute of Pain and Texas Pain Society. He is the first Grover E. Murry Professor named after the first President of the Texas Tech University School of Medicine. He was director of the TTUHSC Pain Symposium since its inception 33 years ago and is also Director of the annual Budapest Conference since it began 23 years ago. He was the first President of the Texas Pain Society.
Dr. Racz board certified with the American Board of Anesthesiology, the American Board of Anesthesiology subspecialty in Pain Medicine, and holds the certificates of Diplomat with the American College of Pain Medicine, Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice awarded by the World Institute of Pain and the Diplomat American Board of Interventional Pain Practice (DABIPP) certification awarded by ASIPP and WIP. He is an advocate for high standards of certification and training among pain physicians and works toward the advancement of those goals.
He has received numerous recognitions and awards from organizations around the world including Distinguished Professor Award for Lifetime Achievement from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the Lifetime Achievement Award(s) from American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, ASIPP keynote speaker lecture series named for Raj/Racz, and the MORICCA AWARD, the highest award presented by the Italian Pain Society. He educated over 1,000 Pain Physician visitors during tenure at Texas Tech.
He has published over 200 book chapters and journal articles and three books describing his techniques in spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation, neurolysis, radiofrequency thermocoagulation and other interventional procedures. Today, Dr. Racz continues to practice in Dallas, Texas, hosts Racz Labs Interventional workshops, and travels around the world presenting lectures and workshops.

Lou Raso, MD

Dr. Louis Raso specializes in Interventional Pain Management and holds board certifications in both Pain Management and Anesthesiology from the American Board of Anesthesiology. Currently, he is a pain specialist at The Raso Pain Center in Jupiter Florida. Dr. Raso received his M.D. degree in 1985 from Rutgers Medical School and completed his training in Anesthesiology and Pain Management Fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He has traveled throughout the United States and abroad lecturing and instructing other physicians on Spinal Cord Stimulation, and other interventional procedures. Dr. Raso participates in leading technology and research. He has published numerous journal articles and book chapters on Spinal Cord Stimulation and interventional pain management. The patients who come to Dr. Raso often have pain that has not responded to treatment by other physicians. They often have chronic pain that has been with them for a long period of time. Other physicians also send patients to Dr. Raso for conditions that may benefit from early or specialized treatment. Common problems include pain from nerve injuries, low back and neck pain, and cancer pain. Dr. Raso is passionate about ridding our country of the opioid epidemic. He has helped the State of Florida develop guidelines for approaching the opioid epidemic. His greatest compliment is seeing a patient walk out of his office pain-free.

Edward Rubin, MD

Dr. Rubin did his residency in Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell in Manhattan. After residency, he attended the Quad Institution Fellowship in pain management at Weill Cornell, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Hospital for Special Surgery, and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Dr Rubin is currently in private practice on Long Island, New York. Dr. Rubin is a strong supporter of New York Medical Societies. He is the current Treasurer and former President of the New York Society of Interventional Pain Physicians a Board Member of the Nassau County Medical Society and delegate to the Medical Society of the State of New York.

Ricardo Ruiz-Lopez, MD

Former president & Founder, Clínica Vertebra and World Institute of Pain (WIP)

Dawood Sayed, MD

Dawood Sayed is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and Vice Chairman of the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience. He is the Chief of Pain Medicine and Program Director at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Professor Sayed has published and lectured across the globe on multiple topics in the field of Interventional Pain Medicine.

Michael E. Schatman, PhD, CPE

Dr. Michael Schatman is a clinical psychologist who has spent the past 37 years working in multidisciplinary chronic pain management. He currently serves on the faculty of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care, & Pain Medicine and the Division of Medical Ethics in the Department of Population Health, both at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Schatman is the author of over 175 journal articles and book chapters on various aspects of chronic pain management, and lectures regularly on pain management on local, national, and international bases. Much of his current research is neuromodulation outcomes Dr. Schatman is a member of the Editorial Boards of numerous journals, and for the past 10 years, he has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pain Research. He is also the editor of Ethical Issues in Chronic Pain Management and Chronic Pain Management: Guidelines for Multidisciplinary Program Development, both of which were released by Informa Healthcare in 2007. He is the past-Chairperson of the Ethics Special Interest Group of the American Pain Society, and the immediate past-Chair of the Ethics Committee of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. *

Naum Shaparin, MD

Naum Shaparin, MD, MBA, is Professor and Vice Chair of Business Affairs in the Department of Anesthesiology at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also serves as Director of the Montefiore Multidisciplinary Pain Program. After graduating magna cum laude from Boston University, Dr. Shaparin received his medical degree from Rutgers — New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ. He then completed his residency in anesthesiology at Columbia University Medical Center/New York Presbyterian Hospital and completed a fellowship in pain medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. Most recently, he completed his MBA at the NYU Stern School of Business. He is a Past President of the Eastern Pain Association and is a member of numerous organizations and committees. Dr. Shaparin has lectured and published extensively on various topics related to regional anesthesia, acute pain medicine and chronic pain medicine.

Ashish Shetty, MD

Prof Shetty trained at Cambridge University Hospitals and underwent a clinical fellowship in pain management at Guys & St Thomas Hospital in London. He is a consultant lead in Pain Medicine at University College London Hospitals and an Associate Professor at UCL. He is a consultant at Harley Street Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. Special interests: Chronic Pain: Neuromodulation, Spinal Cord stimulators, Sports Medicine, Pelvic pain, CRPS

Victor Silva, MD

Interventional pain management professor at the Tecnológico de Monterrey and University of Guadalajara. Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice FIPP and Certified Interventional Pain Sonologist CIPS.

Iasmin Sindeaux, MD

Pain Physician, Boa Vista, Brazil

Konstantin Slavin, MD

Konstantin Slavin, MD, FAANS is a Professor, Chief of Section, and Fellowship Director for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Dr. Slavin graduated from medical school in Baku, Azerbaijan in the Soviet Union, and completed his neurosurgery residency in Moscow. He then completed his second neurosurgery residency at UIC and a fellowship in functional and stereotactic neurosurgery at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, OR. Dr. Slavin is the current President of the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and the Past President of the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. He is also the President-Elect of the International Neuromodulation Society (INS) and past Secretary of the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS). For many years, he was an Executive Committee member of the Joint Section on Pain of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Slavin is published in many books and peer-reviewed journals and is an associate editor or editorial board member for a number of publications, including Neuromodulation, Neurosurgery, Brain Sciences, Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Acta Neurochirurgica and others; he is the current editor-in-chief of Progress in Neurological Surgery. His first book on Peripheral Nerve Stimulation was published in 2011; another book, co-edited with Sam Eljamel on Neurostimulation: Practice and Principles, came out in 2013; the third one, Stimulation of Peripheral Nervous System: The Neuromodulation Frontier was released in 2015. The most recent book on Neuromodulation for Facial Pain came out in 2021.

Monique Steegers, MD, PhD

In Prof. Dr. Monique Steegers’ patient care, research, and education, the daily clinical practice of patients influencing the quality of life of patients with acute and chronic pain and in the palliative care setting is still the starting point. Prof. Dr. Steegers focuses mainly on the development of acute and chronic pain medicine. She focuses on the question of multidimensionality and interdisciplinary action in the chain of care of pain. She works extensively with national and international education groups and will always look for national and international connections in her research. As a full professor Dr. Steegers wants to further develop solid networks with professionals working in the field of pain medicine and palliative care influencing the quality of life.

Agnes Stogicza, MD

Dr. Agnes Stogicza is a board-certified anesthesiologist and pain physician with more than 15 years of experience in interventional pain management. She completed her pain fellowship at the University of Washington, where she served as faculty from 2010 to 2017. As a clinician-educator, she treated pain patients and taught fluoroscopy and ultrasound-guided minimally invasive interventional pain procedures, regional anesthesia techniques, and medication management for complex chronic pain patients to pain fellows and residents. Currently, she works in chronic interventional pain and anesthesia in Budapest at Saint Magdolna Private Hospital. She is a member of the World Institute of Pain (WIP) Education Committee, Vice-Chair of the Hungarian Section of WIP, and serves as an examiner for the FIPP (Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice) and CIPS (Certified Interventional Pain Sonologist) Board Certification.
She regularly lectures and teaches interventional pain procedures in the US, Europe, South America, and Asia for the World Institute of Pain (WIP), the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), the American Society of Regional Anesthesia (ASRA), World Academy of Pain Medicine Ultrasonography (WAPMU) and other societies. She is a co-founder of Pain School International which provides interventional pain education in Budapest for doctors from all around the world. She has authored and co-authored numerous book chapters and papers in chronic pain management. Her main clinical interests are cancer pain, spinal pain, and related conditions (headaches, arm and leg pains) and the application of regenerative medicine (such as PRP, Stem cell, and prolotherapy) for various spine and musculoskeletal conditions.

Robert Tiso, MD

Dr. Tiso is the founder and President of the New York Spine and Wellness Center – a large multidisciplinary pain treatment center in central NY. He is also the president-elect of the NY Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. Dr. Tiso places a strong emphasis on compassionate, patient-centered care and advocates on their behalf both locally and nationally. He is also the author of several peer-reviewed journal articles. Pain Medicine is undergoing a dramatic transformation over the past several years. The challenge will be to navigate this change positively from both a clinical and administrative standpoint. He is hoping to help lead us through this change.

Reda Tolba, MD (Abu Dhabi)

Dr. Reda Tolba is the Chairman of the Pain Department at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, UAE. He is a Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He is currently serving as the Founding Chair of ISPN , the International Society of Pain and Neuroscience,. He serves on several committees for the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience ASPN, American society of Regional Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine ASRA , North American Neuromodulation Society NANS . Dr.Tolba completed his residency training in Anesthesia followed by Fellowship in Pain Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio. He is double board certified in Anesthesia and Pain Medicine by the American Board of Medical Subspecialties. He has published numerous papers and book chapters in the field of pain medicine. He directed several workshops at international meetings such as ASA and ASRA. He has lectured extensively at variety of national and international meetings in the field of pain management. His special interests are the use of neuromodulation for the treatment of neuropathic pain. He is also interested in the management of vertebral compression fractures and minimally invasive spine procedures

Yu-Chuan (Grace) Tsai, MD

Prof. Yu Chuan (Grace) Tsai is Professor of Anesthesiology and Chief, Center of Pain Management at E-Da Cancer Hospital, Kaohsiung Taiwan. She has served as the Chair of the 2nd Asian Congress on Pain (AAFPS) in 2014. In 2019, 2020, and 2023, she has organized WIP Taipei Interventional Pain Workshop with FIPP/CIPS Examination. Currently, she is the Chair of WIP Taiwan Registered Society. Prof. Tsai is a recognized pain specialist. She has published more than 80 articles on anesthesia and pain management Her main interest field is in regenerative medicine and interventional pain management.

Kris Vissers, MD (The Netherlands)

Kris Vissers is an anesthesiologist, professor in Pain and Palliative Medicine, and chairman of the Radboud Expertise Center of Pain and Palliative Medicine of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands. He is also the chair of the Acute Pain Care improvement program of the academic hospital.
He obtained his graduation in Medical Sciences at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) and his graduation as an Anesthesiologist at the University of Antwerp and the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) in 1993. He specialized in pain management in Leuven (B) and Nijmegen (NL), with Prof. Dr. H. Adriaensen, Prof. Dr. H. van Aken, Prof. Dr. L. Booij and Prof. Dr. B. Crul. As of 1995, he was a staff member of the University-affiliated Hospital East-Limburg, Genk, Belgium where he founded the Multidisciplinary Pain Center. He was visiting consultant for the palliative care unit and hospital team. He was a consultant for the home care organization in Palliative Care “Pallium” in Limburg (B).
He obtained the degree of doctor in the medical sciences Ph.D. in 2004 at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, The Netherlands. Also, he graduated as a Fellow in Interventional Pain Practice for the World Institute of Pain (U.S.A.) in 2004.
Since 2005, he is Professor in Pain and Palliative Medicine. He is Chair of the Board of Examination of the World Institute of Pain, Honorary Secretary of the Benelux Chapter of the World Institute of Pain, and the first chairman of the Dutch Society of Multidisciplinary Palliative Care Professionals[1], chapter of the European Association of Palliative Care (EAPC) and board member of the Dutch Pain Society, chapter of the IASP.
His main research interests are (1) translational approach and research on neuropathic pain, (2) practical and ethical application of palliative sedation, (3) proactive care and identification of patients in a palliative trajectory, (4) quality indicators of the organization and practice of pain and palliative medicine, (5) e-health and telemedicine in transmural care programs (6) decision making in palliative care and end-of-life and (7) the description of competences and performances for the education and training in pain and palliative medicine.
He succeeded together with his young research group in getting external funding resources for major research projects in pain and palliative care (Europall, 7th framework, ZonMw, NWO, KWF, STW).
He is the author of more than 160 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and contributed to more than 20 textbooks. He contributes to local and national education with regular articles in Belgian and Dutch journals for physicians and for the lay public. He is frequently asked as a speaker during national and international congresses and teaching courses. He is the promotor of 26 Ph.D. students in his topics of interest. He organized 7 international congresses and workshops. He was a member of several scientific committees of congresses.

Sayed Emal Wahezi, MD

Dr. Wahezi earned his medical degree from the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Buffalo and completed his Residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Montefiore Medical Center, where he served as Chief Resident. He then completed an Interventional Musculoskeletal fellowship. Following his training, he completed a Pain Medicine Fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center, where he cultivated the clinical and academic development of the Pain Program. Dr. Wahezi currently serves as an Associate Professor of PMR, Anesthesiology, and Orthopedic Surgery at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City where he serves as the Program Director of the ACGME accredited Pain Fellowship. He has created a fellowship with an interventional focus and multidisciplinary foundation. His mission is to create an academic environment that fosters the growth of Pain Medicine by education and investigation/development of new devices and techniques. Dr. Wahezi is a long-standing member of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), New York Pain Society (NYPS), Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP), New York Pain Society (NYPS), American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN), Eastern Pain Association (EPA). He is a nominated AAPMR delegate representative for the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Expert Panel on Pain Management, a nominated representative on ASIPP’s expert lumbar stenosis panel, serves on the Board of Directors for the NYPS, and is a member of the AAPM Membership Committee Council. He is a graduate of the Academy of Academic Physiatrists’ (AAP) Program for Academic Leadership (PAL) and a member of Montefiore’s esteemed Professional Leadership Program, President-Elect for the Academy of Pain Program Directors (APPD), Co-Chair of the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience (ASPN) Educational Committee, and elected member of the Spine Intervention Society (SIS) Evidence Analysis Committee. He is also a Reviewer and Editor for the Pain Physician Journal and the Pain Medicine Journal. Dr. Wahezi is a nominated member of the Associate Professor Promotions Committee at Montefiore/Einstein. In addition, he is a nominated Super Doctor®, as identified by the New York Times Magazine, and included in the list of Best Doctors in America®.

Scott Woska, MD

Dr. Woska completed his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Columbia University, New York Presbyterian Hospital. He completed a fellowship in interventional spine and pain medicine with Dr. Charles Aprill at LSU in New Orleans. Dr. Woska is in private practice and performs spinal diagnostic injections as well as electrodiagnostic testing. Dr. Woska is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pain Medicine, Electrodiagnostic Medicine and Sports Medicine. Dr. Woska is the Executive Director Emeritus of NJSIPP and remains active in legislative affairs.

Michael Yang, MD

Michael Yang, MD, is a pain management physician at Summit Pain Alliance in Santa Rosa and
Petaluma, California. He has been studying the connection between the body and mind since
his undergraduate years at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. A dual major
in biology and psychology, he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa and Psy Chi honors.
After college, he returned to his native Southern California, where he studied neurosurgery
research at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He then went on to complete his
medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), one of the top five
medical schools in the nation. He graduated with honors in psychology and anesthesiology
rotations.
After medical school, Dr. Yang moved to New York City, where he completed his residency in
anesthesiology at Cornell University. After residency, Dr. Yang completed ACGME-accredited
fellowship training in the field of interventional pain management with a focus on
multidisciplinary approaches. In New York, he worked in three of the country’s top hospitals:
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, and New YorkPresbyterian Hospital.
From his fellowship to his private practice in Santa Rosa, California, Dr. Yang specializes in
exceptional care for patients suffering from cancer pain, acute and chronic orthopedic injuries,
and various chronic neck/back and nerve pains.