Dr. Vanila Singh, MD, MACM
Dr. Vanila Singh is an American physician, educator, policy maker, and patient advocate. She has dedicated her career to clinical medicine and public health issues and is currently tackling one of the nation’s most widespread, expensive, and devastating epidemics of our time: the opioid and greater drug epidemic. 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 16 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.
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.
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 has 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). She currently holds a teaching mentor appointment at the Walter Reed Military Medical Center (WRMMC) in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Singh is passionate about advancing individualized, patient-centered care and improving clinical outcomes, patient empowerment, health policy, economics, and medicine.
She currently holds Board of Director positions at Bio Delivery Sciences International, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSI) and the Alliance to Advance Comprehensive Integrative Pain Management (AACIPM). 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.
She has been extensively covered in 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.
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.
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 has 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). She currently holds a teaching mentor appointment at the Walter Reed Military Medical Center (WRMMC) in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Singh is passionate about advancing individualized, patient-centered care and improving clinical outcomes, patient empowerment, health policy, economics, and medicine.
She currently holds Board of Director positions at Bio Delivery Sciences International, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSI) and the Alliance to Advance Comprehensive Integrative Pain Management (AACIPM). 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.
She has been extensively covered in 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.
