The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine) has selected André P. Boezaart, MD, PhD, FASRA, to receive the 2026 Gaston Labat Award this spring at the 51st Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting in Phoenix, AZ.

With a career spanning more than five decades and multiple continents, Dr. Boezaart has made enduring contributions to the development, teaching, and practice of regional anesthesia and pain medicine. He began his career in family medicine in South Africa, earning his MBChB and MPraxMed degrees from the University of Pretoria. He then pursued a diploma and fellowship in anesthesiology, completed residency, and earned an MMed (Anesth) at the University of the Witwatersrand at Johannesburg Hospital. He earned his PhD in neuro-anesthesiology at the University of Stellenbosch while also working in critical care, orthopaedic and ophthalmologic anesthesia, and acute pain medicine. Dr. Boezaart performed the first recorded continuous peripheral nerve blocks for pain management and for the transport of wounded soldiers under austere conditions in 1975 during his conscripted military service with the South African Defense Force as an anesthesiologist with No. 1 Forward Surgical Unit in Angola.

In 2001, Dr. Boezaart came to the United States to serve as an associate professor at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where he became a clinical full professor and the director of orthopedic anesthesia. He founded the Regional Anesthesia Fellowship Program at the University of Iowa and the Regional Anesthesia Study Center of Iowa. In 2007, he moved to the University of Florida in Gainesville to serve as a tenured professor of anesthesiology and orthopedic surgery, as well as chief of the division of regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine (RAAPM). He founded the RAAPM Fellowship Program and the Acute Pain Service at the University. 

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“For those of us practicing in the 1980s and 1990s, there was no practical way to extend peripheral nerve block analgesia until Dr. Boezaart made it easy to do so." — Joseph M. Neal, MD

Dr. Boezaart currently holds an emeritus professorship at the University of Florida and serves as the chief medical officer of Lumina Health, which trades as Yōjō Health in Surrey, United Kingdom.

Nominator Joseph M. Neal, MD, said that Dr. Boezaart’s work in inventing and perfecting continuous perineural and neuraxial catheter techniques represents an overwhelming contribution to the field of regional anesthesia.

“For those of us practicing in the 1980s and 1990s, there was no practical way to extend peripheral nerve block analgesia until Dr. Boezaart made it easy to do so,” Neal wrote. He also noted Dr. Boezaart’s extensive publications on nerve microanatomy, nerve injury, acute pain medicine, and chronic pain. “He is a passionate teacher and free thinker who occasionally prompts us to rethink our understanding of our craft,” Neal wrote, adding that Dr. Boezaart continues to contribute to the field by developing an international, web-based collaboration of chronic and acute pain medicine experts for educational and clinical pursuits and by establishing extensive research collaborations with groups in Dundee, Madrid, and Florida.

The recipient of countless awards and honors, Dr. Boezaart’s illustrious career includes extensive authorship and service on scholarly journals. He currently serves as an executive editor for Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine. His extensive bibliography includes numerous articles, textbooks, book chapters, and video materials.

Given annually, the award honors regional anesthesia pioneer Gaston P. Labat, MD (1876-1934) and is given to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to the development, teaching, and practice of regional anesthesia and pain medicine. Dr. Boezaart will present the Gaston Labat Lecture during the “Excellence in ASRA Pain Medicine Awards Luncheon” on April 18 at the 51st Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting.