Presidential Scholar Award Will be Given to Dr. Meredith Adams
Dr. Meredith Adams
Meredith C.B. Adams, MD, MS, has been selected to receive a 2025 American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine) Presidential Scholar Award at the 24th Annual Pain Medicine Meeting on November 15, 2025, in Austin, TX. The award is given semiannually to recognize mid-career physician-investigators who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to research that have significantly advanced the science and practice of regional anesthesia and/or pain medicine.
“My work exemplifies ASRA's mission of advancing patient care through research, education, and advocacy, while maintaining a focus on real-world clinical applications,” Dr. Adams wrote in her personal statement. An associate professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Wake Forest, NC, Dr. Adams holds appointments in anesthesiology, artificial intelligence, translational neuroscience, and public health sciences.
She also serves as chair of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL) Data Ecosystem Collective Board, trustee of the International Anesthesia Research Society, and scientific member of the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is also on the board of the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and a member of the Wake Forest Center for Research on Substance Abuse and Addiction.
“I have dedicated my career to advancing patient care through the integration of clinical practice, innovative research, and technological solutions,” Dr. Adams said. “Looking ahead, my research aims to continue transforming pain medicine through the integration of artificial intelligence, clinical informatics, and standardized research methodologies.”
Dr. Adams has been an ASRA Pain Medicine member since 2006 and has served on the Research Committee (2020–2024), as well as presenting and contributing to clinical practice guidelines, including consensus on interventions for cervical spine joint pain.
“Dr. Adams’ unique combination of clinical expertise, informatics innovation, and research leadership makes her an ideal candidate."
“Dr. Adams’ unique combination of clinical expertise, informatics innovation, and research leadership makes her an ideal candidate,” wrote colleague Robert W. Hurley, MD, PhD, in his nomination of Dr. Adams. “Her work is actively shaping how we conduct pain research and implement evidence-based pain management strategies.”
Her research program, supported by more than $27 million in NIH funding as principal investigator, has generated several widely adopted tools in pain research, including the NIH HEAL Morphine Milligram Equivalent Calculator, the CDE2OMOP tool, and the first NIH HEAL Initiative Gen3-based data commons for chronic pain and opioid use disorder trials. She has authored numerous high-impact publications advancing evidence-based practice in pain medicine and was recently honored with the NIH HEAL Director’s Trailblazer Award (2023) and the Golden Neuron Pain Rising Star Researcher Award (2024).
Dr. Adams earned her medical degree at Tulane University School of Medicine and her master’s in clinical and translational science at the University of Florida. She completed her residency in anesthesiology and a fellowship in pain medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.
The Presidential Scholar Award was established in 2018 to recognize ASRA Pain Medicine members with a track record of high-impact publication and demonstrated support of the Society.