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Dr. Vanila Singh, MD, MACMDr. Vanila Singh is an American physician, educator, policy maker, and patient advocate who is an expert on pain management and the illicit opioid epidemic. As former Chief Medical Officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services she tackled one of the nation’s most widespread, expensive, and devastating battles of our time: the opioid and greater drug epidemic. She continues to dedicate her career to clinical medicine and the public health issues we continue to face as a nation.
As a double-board certified faculty physician in both anesthesiology and pain medicine, Dr. Singh has brought her background in molecular and cell biology and economics in understanding the underlying mechanisms of complex acute and chronic pain as well as other medical conditions. Dr. Singh has spent over 17 years at the Stanford University School of Medicine as a Clinical Associate Professor where her practice focuses on pain management, regional anesthesia and advanced ultrasound-guided procedures. She is passionate about advancing individualized, patient-centered care and improving clinical outcomes, patient empowerment, health policy, economics, and medicine. |
Medicine and Education
Dr. Singh at Stanford's EHR Symposium
Dr. Singh completed her initial medical internship at Yale University Medical Center in 1997 and 1998. An anesthesia resident at Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan from 1998 until 2001, from 2001 until 2002 she was a pain management fellow in various locations, including Cornell University, Columbia Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the Hospital for Special Surgery. She is double-certified in anesthesia and pain management from the American Board of Anesthesiology. After serving as a clinical assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center, she became a clinical associate professor at Stanford University Medical School for anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine where she currently has over 16 years of experience specializing in ultrasound-guided interventional procedures for pain and regional anesthesiology. Dr. Singh earned a Masters of Academic Medicine from University of Southern California, and was named a teaching mentor for the pain fellowship at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in 2019.
Policy and Public Service
Dr. Singh leads PMTF public meeting
In 2017, Dr. Singh was appointed by the White House to serve as the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH). She was later concurrently appointed by the Assistant Secretary for Health as the Acting Regional Director for Region 9 (CA, NV, AZ, HI, and the Pacific Islands) and served dual leadership roles through her HHS tenure.
In her role as the U.S. Department of HHS Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Singh was integral in shaping the Department’s opioid policy recommendations. She served as Chairperson of the highly regarded Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, for the CARA Legislative Act of 2016, where she brought together and led 29 expert Task Force members in pain medicine, addiction, mental health, minority health, Veterans’ health, as well as professional medical organizations representatives and respected members from FDA, CDC, NIH. Under her leadership, the Task Force submitted a comprehensive Report to the U.S. Congress on May 30, 2019, that received over 150 endorsements from various stakeholder organization, included over 500 scholarly references and 10,000 public comments, and utilized artificial intelligence/machine learning to analyze new and emerging trends in the pain management landscape.
Her work earned widespread praise from the public and private sector across all disciplines – such as with the American Medical Association, the American Society of Anesthesiology, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the Human Rights Watch, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, the American Association of Poison Control Centers, the American Society of Hematology, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons amongst many others.
In her role as the U.S. Department of HHS Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Singh was integral in shaping the Department’s opioid policy recommendations. She served as Chairperson of the highly regarded Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, for the CARA Legislative Act of 2016, where she brought together and led 29 expert Task Force members in pain medicine, addiction, mental health, minority health, Veterans’ health, as well as professional medical organizations representatives and respected members from FDA, CDC, NIH. Under her leadership, the Task Force submitted a comprehensive Report to the U.S. Congress on May 30, 2019, that received over 150 endorsements from various stakeholder organization, included over 500 scholarly references and 10,000 public comments, and utilized artificial intelligence/machine learning to analyze new and emerging trends in the pain management landscape.
Her work earned widespread praise from the public and private sector across all disciplines – such as with the American Medical Association, the American Society of Anesthesiology, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the Human Rights Watch, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, the American Association of Poison Control Centers, the American Society of Hematology, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons amongst many others.
Business and Leadership
Dr. Singh has served in various leadership capacities and has spoken extensively to various professional organizations around the country including the Boys and Girls Club of America, STEM initiatives, panels on women in leadership, and patient advocacy groups. She currently holds several Board of Directors positions for the following companies and non-profits:
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Dr. Singh has also served as Vice President for the National Physicians' Council For Healthcare Policy, as a Delegate and IT Subcommittee member for the California Medical Association, as an editorial board member of the Pain Physician Journal, on the board of the Santa Clara County Medical Association, and as a member of the Scientific Planning Committee for the American Society of Regional Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine (ASRA).
Awards
Dr. Singh has received numerous awards and most recently is the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Philipp M. Lippe, MD Award, given to a physician for outstanding contributions to both the social and political aspects of pain medicine. She has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), and has been recognized as a woman in leadership. She is frequently invited to keynote and speak on her experiences and expert background.
PressDr. Singh has been extensively covered in Fox News, MSNBC, USA Today, Axios, Economic Times of India, the Hill, Politico, New York Times, India West, Becker’s ASC Review, Modern Healthcare, National Pain Report and others. Dr. Singh was also recently featured in Silicon Valley Magazine. Click on the News and Media tabs to view her live interviews and press releases.
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Dr. Singh with Axios' Mike Allen
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