Dr. Hari Kalagara to Receive Presidential Scholar Award
Hari Kalagara, MBBS, MD, FCARCSI, EDRA, has been selected to receive the 2026 American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine) Presidential Scholar Award at the 51st Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting on April 18, in Phoenix, AZ. 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.
An assistant professor of anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and Science and consultant in the department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, Dr. Kalagara was a fellow in the Royal College of Anesthetists in London, United Kingdom, and earned the European Diploma in Regional Anesthesia from the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia. In 2012, he came to the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH, for residency and fellowship, receiving ASRA Pain Medicine’s Resident/Fellow of the Year Award in 2017. He then served as an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham before going to Mayo Clinic in 2021.
“His passion for advancing the field and his dedication to improving patient care embody the highest standards of our profession.” — Vishal Uppal, MBBS, FRCA
“His extensive publications in regional anesthesia, acute pain, and POCUS underscore his exceptional expertise across these fields within the ASRA Pain Medicine community,” wrote Dr. Vishal Uppal, associate professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. “His passion for advancing the field and his dedication to improving patient care embody the highest standards of our profession.”
Dr. Kalagara has been an active member of ASRA Pain Medicine since 2012, serving as faculty for many ASRA Pain Medicine Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meetings, including the popular regional anesthesia workshops, and for Perioperative Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) courses. He currently chairs ASRA Pain Medicine POCUS courses, which includes the first Advanced POCUS course launched in 2023. He received the Excellence in Education Award in 2023 as well.
Dr. Kalagara also initiated the popular “POCUS Spotlight” series in the ASRA Pain Medicine Newsletter, now translated into Spanish, and has contributed to multiple society guidelines, including those for COVID-19 regional anesthesia, POCUS, postdural puncture headache, infectious complications, and gastric POCUS. Dr. Kalagara has published extensively in regional anesthesia, acute pain, and POCUS, and continues to be a key contributor to education and guideline development within ASRA Pain Medicine.
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.