ASRA Pain Medicine has selected Jose De Andres, MD, PhD, FIPP, EDRA, EDPM, to receive the 2022 John J. Bonica Award. The honor recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to the development, teaching, and practice of pain medicine in the tradition of John J. Bonica, MD, the pioneering anesthesiologist regarded as the founding father of pain relief medicine.

The award and lecture, titled “Neurostimulation in the patient with chronic pain. Forecasting the future with data from the present. Data-driven analysis or just dreams?” will be presented on November 19th during the 21st Annual Pain Medicine meeting being held Nov. 17-19, 2022, in Orlando, FL.

Dr. De Andres is a tenured professor of anesthesiology at the Valencia University School of Medicine and chair of the Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Multidisciplinary Pain Management departments at the Valencia University General Hospital, in Valencia, Spain.

Past-president of the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy (ESRA) and actively involved in both ESRA and the European Federation of International Association for the Study of Pain chapters, Dr. De Andres also is the director of the International Master of Research and Specialized Treatment of Pain, vice chair of the European Diploma of Pain Medicine (ESRA-EDPM) Examination Board of European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy, member of the Liaison and Advocacy Committee of the International Neuromodulation Society, and member of the Neurostimulation Appropriateness Consensus Committee and Polyanalgesic Consensus Conference, and member of scientific committee of Convergences in Pelvi-Perineal Pain Congress, among other international responsibilities.

Gina Votta-Velis, MD, PhD, has worked with Dr. De Andres for more than 10 years on ESRA/EDRA activities and nominated him for the award. “His extraordinary contributions in the field of pain medicine in research, teaching, and clinical practice… are a testament that he embodies the ideas of John Bonica and his passion for pain medicine,” she wrote.

Dr. De Andres’s interest in anesthesia began in medical school and grew as he discovered the techniques of regional anesthesia in improving patient adaptation and recovery speed. Due to a lack of training opportunities in Spain at the time, he reached out to former ASRA President and fellow Bonica Award Recipient Dr. Michael Stanton-Hicks who was working at the University of Mainz in Germany. He joined the anesthesia department there and was part of the development of a multidisciplinary pain clinic at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz where Dr. Stanton-Hicks was in the first steps, of the organization of the interest group to discuss complex regional pain syndrome. At this time, Dr. De Andres discovered his ultimate interest in the application of regional anesthesia techniques for the treatment of chronic pain.

Dr. De Andres later trained at Oxford University in the United Kingdom with Dr. John Lloyd where he reinforced multidisciplinary management of chronic pain and the use of cryoanalgesia. At this time, his interest in undergraduate and postgraduate training began.

“I have always wanted to be able to pass on what I knew to other generations and thereby expand the knowledge of an area as important as adequate pain control in our patients,” Dr. De Andres said.

Dr. De Andres has been an associate editor for Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine and currently is on the editorial board of several national and international journals. He is actively involved in several research projects related to spinal cord stimulation, neurostimulation, and implanted systems. He is a prolific writer with 34 books, 230 book chapters, 202 international journal articles, and 197 Spanish-language journal articles to date. He is a regular presenter at national and international meetings.

“For me, as for many others, John Bonica has been the light that has illuminated our work path. Being nominated now by ASRA Pain Medicine for his award is an honor that I humbly and sincerely appreciate,” he said.

Dr. John Bonica was a professor and chair of the department of Anesthesiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle. He was recognized as a champion of multidisciplinary collaboration in the evaluation and treatment of patients in pain. He passed away in 1994.

The John J. Bonica Award honors the multiple contributions Dr. Bonica made to the field of pain medicine. Dr. Bonica wrote the first book devoted to pain management, mentored clinicians and colleagues, and started the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). Learn about Dr. Bonica in the TED Talk “The Amazing Story of the Man Who Gave Us Modern Pain Relief.”

Nominees for this award embody the ideals of John Bonica and his passion for pain medicine as manifested through their contributions by way of research, teaching, and clinical practice.

Learn more about the 21^st Annual Pain Medicine Meeting at www.asra.com/pain.