Dr. Rakesh V. Sondekoppam

Rakesh V. Sondekoppam, MBBS, will receive the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine) Presidential Scholar Award at the 50th Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting being held May 1-3, in Orlando, FL. The award is given biannually to recognize outstanding scientific and sustained contributions to regional anesthesia, acute, or chronic pain medicine over the preceding 10 years.

“Dr. Sondekoppam is an example of a scholar with a rare combination of knowledge, skills, and a warm personality with an immense passion for regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine,” wrote mentor and collaborator Ban C. H. Tsui, MSc, MD, FRCP(C), professor at Stanford University in Stanford, CA, who nominated Dr. Sondekoppam for the award. “Each year has deepened my appreciation for his unwavering dedication to research, the education of residents and fellows, and his outstanding clinical acumen.”

Dr. Sondekoppam attended his first ASRA Pain Medicine meeting in 2013 and has been a regular participant since. He has contributed to several ASRA Pain Medicine guidelines including the recently published Consensus Practice Infection Control Guidelines for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Prevention Guidelines, Multisociety guidelines on the prevention and management of Postdural Puncture Headache, and 2023’s Consensus Guidelines on the Management of the Perioperative Patient on Cannabis and Cannabinoids. He is currently collaborating on a revision of the Practice Advisory on Neurologic Complications Associated with Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine. A founding member of ASRA Pain Medicine Green Anesthesia Special Interest Group, Dr. Sondekoppam has presented at various ASRA Pain Medicine annual meetings and workshops.

Dr. Sondekoppam is a clinical associate professor at the Department of Anesthesia at Stanford University, in Palo Alto, CA, after his stint at the University of Iowa as the Division Chief of Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine. After earning his medical degree and residency training in India and fellowship training at Western University, in London, Ontario, Canada, he served as a clinical assistant professor at Western University and as a clinical associate professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, before moving to the United States in 2019.

The Presidential Scholar Award is given in recognition of an individual’s work. Nominees must be actively involved in research, academically accomplished, have a track record of high impact publication, and have built a significant body of work on a topic relevant to regional anesthesia and/or pain medicine. The award is open to ASRA Pain Medicine members only.