The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine) 2022 Resident/Fellow of the Year will be awarded to Alexander Stone, MD, a regional anesthesia-acute pain medicine fellow at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York, NY.

Dr. Stone’s enthusiasm for the field is clear from his description of anesthesiology as “the greatest medical specialty” and from the six mentors who wrote letters of support for his nomination.

“The ability to take a patient on one of the most stressful days of their lives and guide them through the perioperative experience is a privilege,” Stone said, adding that he is “extremely honored and humbled to receive this award. ASRA Pain medicine has been a massive influence on me during my training. The first conference I attended during medical school was an ASRA conference, which helped launch my research career.”

Dr. Stone earned his MD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, and his undergraduate degree from Amherst College in Amherst, MA. He completed his anesthesiology residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. A prolific writer and a reviewer for Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine (RAPM) as well as other journals, Dr. Stone also cofounded MasksOn.org after the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. The non-profit organization was created to combat personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages by modifying full-face snorkels and donating them to health care providers nationally and internationally.

Long-time ASRA Pain Medicine member and RAPM Executive Editor Dr. Christopher Wu, who works with Dr. Stone at HSS, wrote, “Alex embodies, at the highest level, the qualities and values that we seek in candidates for this award.”

Dr. Ellen Soffin, also from HSS, wrote of Dr. Stone, “He has a unique ability to remain highly patient-focused while interacting well with the OR teams. He consistently seeks out opportunities to teach our residents and medical students. He is highly engaging when teaching and uses a combination of case-based stories to illustrate important teaching points, but the learning is grounded in the fundamentals of anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology.  Indeed, I always learn something new when I work with Dr. Stone!”

Looking to his future, Dr. Stone said, “I am very excited about the chance to work with residents and fellows next year as a young faculty member. I have been so lucky to benefit from exceptional mentors that I'd like to create opportunities for other young clinicians to get to participate in research.” Dr. Stone is interested in studying how to expand access to high quality, safe, reliable acute pain management and developing ways to measure and describe the value of the services provided in acute pain management.

The Resident/Fellow of the Year Award is given annually to a resident or fellow member of ASRA Pain Medicine who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to regional anesthesia or pain medicine; has contributed to the advancement of the profession, welfare of residents, or quality of residency education; serves as a role model and mentor to his or her peers; and embodies the values of ASRA Pain Medicine.

Dr. Stone will accept the award at the 47^th Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting being held March 31-April 2 in Las Vegas, NV.