The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) has named Duke Anesthesiology’s Kevin Vorenkamp, MD, FASA, as the recipient of its Presidential Scholar Award; it recognizes members who have demonstrated outstanding scientific and sustained contributions to regional anesthesia and pain medicine in the last 10 years.
ASRA members nominate mid-career, qualified anesthesiologists whose research has had or will have meaningful impact on the clinical practice or scientific direction of regional anesthesia and/or pain medicine.
“I am greatly honored to receive the 2021 ASRA Presidential Scholar Award. ASRA has remained a major influence in my education, growth and development over the past 15 years. It was my initial exposure to regional anesthesia that reinforced my desire to shift my career planning from orthopedic surgery to anesthesiology and eventually pain medicine,” says Vorenkamp, associate professor of anesthesiology and chief of Duke Anesthesiology’s Pain Medicine Division. “As my personal career trajectory has shifted into areas of coding, compliance and advocacy focus, I have been pleased to see that ASRA has expanded its mission to include advocacy to support its members and preserve our impactful treatments to relieve the global burden of pain.”
In addition to his scholarly work, Vorenkamp previously served as the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) advisor to CPT prior to his appointment to the American Medical Association’s CPT Editorial Panel in 2015. He is currently serving his second four-year term. He also serves as the ASA delegate to the Multisociety Pain Workgroup and is the vice-chair of the ASRA Practice Management Committee. At Duke, he also serves as the medical director of the Duke Raleigh Hospital Pain Clinic and the associate director of Patient Safety and Quality Improvement. He will be presented the Presidential Scholar Award at ASRA’s annual meeting this fall.