Cite as: Cohen S. President’s message: people and partnerships advance our society. ASRA Pain Medicine News 2026;51. https://doi.org/10.52211/asra050126.001.

As I embark on my second year in office and travel to various pain society conferences to meet their members, I have time to reflect on ASRA Pain Medicine. Each society has its own ethos, or niche, something the organization does extraordinarily well. This might involve chronic pain interventions; neuromodulation in all of its growing forms, multidisciplinary care, basic science and psychology, or lobbying. But there is no society that has the storied history of ASRA Pain Medicine, its large and dedicated membership, and its ability to evolve with the rapidly changing political landscape. There is a compelling reason for this.

As a membership organization, ASRA Pain Medicine is nothing without its members. Our volunteers are the wheels that keep the society turning.

The end of January marked the third annual World Day of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine, spearheaded by the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia & Pain Therapy (ESRA), ASRA Pain Medicine, and the rest of our sister societies. This event focused on our shared vision of “a world free of pain” and featured webinars, podcasts, live-streamed educational sessions, hands-on workshops, and meetings held worldwide. Hosted by Drs. Rajnish Gupta and Rakesh Sondekoppam, this year’s ASRA Pain Medicine live stream featured over two dozen speakers and has been viewed well over 1,000 times.

We recently took a moment to recognize these important individuals during National Volunteer Week, held April 19–25 as part of Global Volunteer Month. This observance highlights the power of volunteers to tackle society’s greatest challenges, and we thank each and every individual whose time and commitment to ASRA Pain Medicine—regardless of the length or extent of their service—helps advance the society’s mission to ultimately support improved patient outcomes.

More than 400 individuals gave their time and expertise to ASRA Pain Medicine during the past year, including serving as faculty, sharing insights through education and mentorship programs, and guiding plans and strategies as board and committee members. As pressure mounts from all angles, we appreciate how increasingly valuable this time is.

If not for volunteers, ASRA Pain Medicine would not be able to provide the latest evidence-based practice guidelines, which guide care plans in health care organizations worldwide and are recognized as the standard of care. A special thank you to the Guidelines and Regulatory Advocacy Committee, led by Drs. Gina Votta-Velis and Rakesh Sondekoppam, for their continued work to ensure our guidelines represent the gold standard in pain medicine. Our guidelines are recognized worldwide by payors, American and foreign regulatory bodies, and practitioners outside the usual catchment of pain medicine. Without volunteers, we could not produce the monthly flagship journal Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine, under the leadership of Dr. Brian Sites, which relies on hundreds of expert peer reviewers and nearly 100 editorial board members to gather and disseminate critical evidence that guides care in our fields. In the next few weeks, the U.S. Department of Defense guidelines on neuromodulation in active-duty service members will be published in the journal.

Nor would we have the expertise to publish the quarterly ASRA Pain Medicine News (guided by Drs. Vivian Ip and Anthony Machi), offer monthly webinars on critical practice topics (hosted by Dr. Rajnish Gupta), deliver a wealth of online education through ASRA Pain Medicine EDGE (led by Dr. Stuart Grant), run our award-winning mentorship program (conducted by Drs. Shalini Shah, Brett Elmore, Andrew Mendelson, and Kellie Jaremko, and shepherded by Drs. Ashley Shilling and Lynn Kohan), provide unmatched support to trainees through our Resident & Fellow Committee (directed by Drs. Crystal Joseph, Brittani Bungart, Swathi Rayasam, and Alejandro Hallo-Carrasco), and much, much more. These endeavors are just the tip of the iceberg.

If you are not currently volunteering with the society, please consider getting involved. Mark your calendar for September when our annual Call for Committee Members goes out. New committees begin their terms at the close of the Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting each year, so be sure to check out the new members on our website, and if you know them, thank them for their service.

Speaking of the spring meeting, ASRA Pain Medicine was proud to host another successful meeting in Phoenix, AZ, focused on “Redefining the Role and Value of Regional Anesthesia.” Meeting Chairs, Drs. Linda Le-Wendling and Steven Porter designed an insightful, multidisciplinary program that addressed many of the most pressing issues facing our field.

The event began with a Special Symposium on “Advancing Practice Across the Military and VA Health Systems” on April 15. We were honored to have VA anesthesia and pain management specialty leaders present. This event was a big success with speakers and attendees from militaries in Eastern and Western Europe and Asia making appearances. It marked the second military-focused special symposium we’ve offered (the first took place in November prior to the 24th Annual Pain Medicine Meeting). As a retired member of the U.S. Armed Forces with a son in the infantry, I am committed to this educational effort of the Military Medicine and Veterans Affairs SIG. Thank you as well to our sponsor, Tris Pharma, as without you, we would not be able to host this truly international event. Another event is in the planning stages for November, in conjunction with the 25th Annual Pain Medicine Meeting, to be held November 5-7 in Tampa, FL.

Reviewing other upcoming educational programs, I’d like to note the next Introduction to Perioperative Point-of-Care Ultrasound course, scheduled for September 26-27, 2026, in Tampa, FL. This award-winning course consistently receives rave reviews and will again offer attendees an opportunity to share medically challenging cases for discussion. As with all of our courses, this is only possible because of an amazing and dedicated cadre of volunteers. Dr. Hari Kalagara chairs this program, which features an impressive faculty and promises many practical insights for attendees.

Our strength as an organization extends beyond our volunteers and American members to the meaningful collaborations we have with organizations worldwide. Mark your calendar for the 2027 World Congress, which our sister society, the Latin American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (LASRA), will host on March 10-13, 2027, in Santiago, Chile. This global gathering will unite the five continental societies of regional anesthesia and pain medicine (including the African Society of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Therapy, the Asian & Oceanic Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, and ESRA), bringing together experts from across the world to exchange ideas, share innovations, foster collaborations, and shape the future of our specialty.

LASRA President Ana Laura Schwartzmann remarked, “We are deeply proud to host the world’s leading authorities on regional anesthesia and pain medicine in Latin America at a congress that promises a robust academic exchange, innovative research, and practical advancements that will benefit patients worldwide.”

Together, through volunteerism and collaboration, we continue to move our specialty—and the care we provide—forward. To paraphrase President John F. Kennedy (himself a chronic pain patient), “Ask not what ASRA Pain Medicine can do for you, but what we can do together to improve the lives of our patients.” We invite you to be a part of this movement, and thank you for your continued support.