Dr. Philip Peng Is ASRA’s 2019 John Bonica Lecture Award Winner

Philip Peng, MBBS, professor at the University of Toronto, has been selected to receive ASRA’s 2020 John J. Bonica Award. The award is named for Dr. Bonica, who championed the collaboration of multidisciplinary specialists in the evaluation and treatment of patients with pain. Awardees embody the ideals of John Bonica and his passion for pain medicine as manifested through their contributions to research, teaching, and clinical practice.

“Dr. Peng was a pioneer in developing ultrasound workshops for chronic pain, and he was instrumental in the work around the Pain and MSK Interventional Ultrasound Certificate,” noted nominator Dr. Asokumar Buvanendran, immediate past president. “He has made significant contributions to the field and to ASRA.”

The John J. Bonica Lecture will be presented November 21^st in conjunction with the 19^th Annual Pain Medicine Meeting, a fully virtual meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada honored Dr. Peng with Founder designation in Pain Medicine for his role in establishing the pain medicine subspecialty in Canada. He is a leader, researcher, educator, and pioneer in the application of ultrasound for pain medicine, and his innovative research has led to several new procedures in pain intervention.

Dr. Peng has received numerous educational awards and recently received the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy-Spain Distinguished Service Award in recognition for his lifetime contributions to regional anesthesia. Dr. Peng has delivered more than 350 lectures and workshops nationally and internationally. He has edited 8 books and published more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.

In his lecture, “Joint anatomy-from innervation to innovation,” Peng will describe and summarize the work of his team in the investigation of the anatomy of joint innervation of hip, knee and shoulder. From there, he will talk about how he translates this knowledge to clinical practice in the field of regional anesthesia and pain medicine.

Dr. Peng joins a prestigious list of pain medicine pioneers and leaders. Nominations for the John J. Bonica Award are accepted each spring for the subsequent year.

Drs. Marc Huntoon and Joseph M. Neal Receive ASRA Distinguished Service Award

Marc A. Huntoon, MD, has been selected to receive one of two ASRA 2020 Distinguished Service Awards this fall. Dr. Huntoon is currently professor and vice chair of anesthesiology at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

“His contribution to regional anesthesia and chronic pain via the RAPM journal is tremendous,” said nominator Dr. Asokumar Buvanendran, immediate past president.

Dr. Huntoon received his medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine. He served as a general medical officer in the U.S. Navy for two years, then completed his anesthesiology residency at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center and subsequently obstetric anesthesia fellowship at Wake Forest University.  He was the inaugural pain medicine fellowship trainee at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center in Virginia thereafter. His areas of expertise and interests include complications of interventional procedures, spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation, intrathecal drug delivery, and cancer pain management. Dr. Huntoon was associate professor and chair of anesthesiology at the Medical College of Ohio (now University of Toledo School of Medicine) then served from 2001-2008 as chair of the Pain Medicine Division at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He achieved professor rank at Mayo in 2009. In 2011 he moved to Nashville TN serving as professor of anesthesiology at Vanderbilt University where he was chief, Division of Pain Medicine from 2011-2016.

Dr. Huntoon served as the editor-in-chief of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine from 2012-2019, and the journal flourished under his leadership going from 6 to 12 issues per year and consistently rising in impact factor. He also was a member of the ASRA Board of Directors from 2005-2012 and served as an officer on the Board prior to transitioning to the EIC role. He also chaired the Education Committee from 2006-2012. He currently serves or has served on a number of other journals; has authored an extensive number of books, book chapters, monographs, and journal articles; and has presented at numerous national and international meetings.

Beginning in 2020, the Distinguished Service Award is being given twice annually to recognize a leader in regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine and to recognize a leader in chronic pain medicine. Dr. Joseph M. Neal was recognized as the Distinguished Service Award recipient in the spring. 

A former president of ASRA (2012-2015) and editor-in-chief of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (2002-2012), Dr. Neal has been an active member of ASRA for many years and is widely respected in the field. He received the Gaston Labat Award and Lectureship in April 2019. Although he retired from clinical practice in 2018 at Virginia Mason Medical Center, he continues research and writing. He serves as an affiliate investigator at Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason and as a clinical professor of anesthesiology at University of Washington School of Medicine.

Dr. Neal received his undergraduate and medical training at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, and the West Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown. He returned to Bowman Gray/Wake Forest University to complete residencies in emergency medicine and anesthesiology. After fellowship training in regional anesthesia at the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, WA, he joined that group in 1989. He directed the Virginia Mason regional anesthesia fellowship for over a decade as well as its anesthesiology residency program. He served as director of research from 2013-2017.

Dr. Neal has been a researcher on 12 grants, presented at hundreds of national and regional meetings, organized 24 meetings, authored over 74 peer-reviewed articles, and published four books on various topics in the regional anesthesia and pain medicine field.

The  Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to an individual for his or her outstanding service to ASRA or to the fields of pain medicine or regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine.