Indian Origin Anaesthesiologist bags American Society of Anesthesiologists Excellence in Education Award

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) today presented Santhanam Suresh, MD, MBA, FASA, with its 2023 Excellence in Education Award in recognition of his extraordinary educational contributions to advancing regional anesthesia and pain management in children.

The award is presented annually to an ASA member who has made significant contributions to the specialty through excellence in teaching, development of new teaching methods or the implementation of innovative educational programs.

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Dr. Suresh is the Arthur C. King professor and chair emeritus of pediatric anesthesiology at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where he also serves as senior vice president and chief of provider integration.

Additionally, he is a professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He also serves as an academic director for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

A leading educator and clinician in regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine, Dr. Suresh’s exemplary career has been dedicated to expanding the application of regional anesthesia in children. He has been instrumental in developing teaching methods that have transformed pain management in children worldwide, specifically in the use of nerve blocks for perioperative pain control in infants, children and adolescents.

Over the past two decades, his research has led to improvements in the diagnosis and management of chronic pain in children. Additionally, he has organized several national and international scientific and educational meetings, where he has lectured extensively on pediatric pain management and care strategies.

“Dr. Suresh’s tireless efforts to advance the state of our knowledge on the value and techniques of regional anesthesia in pediatric patients, and to share that progress, both within the specialty and with multidisciplinary teams, has improved surgical care and pain management for children all over the world,” said ASA President Michael W. Champeau, M.D., FAAP, FASA. “It is my great pleasure to congratulate Dr. Suresh on receiving this year’s Excellence in Education Award.”

Dr. Suresh served as chair of ASA’s Committee on Annual Meeting Oversight (AMOC) for ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2022 and currently serves on the Executive AMOC. He is an oral board examiner and former president of the American Board of Anesthesiology.

Additionally, Dr. Suresh served as chair of the Board of Trustees of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS), where he currently serves as their physician executive. He was also a member of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s (ACGME) Residency Review Committee for Anesthesiology.

Dr. Suresh served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesiology (SPA) and the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine), receiving ASRA Pain Medicine’s Distinguished Service Award in 2016 and the Gaston Labat Award for his excellence in regional anesthesia in 2023.

Dr. Suresh received his medical degree from the University of Madras Stanley Medical College in India. He completed a residency in pediatrics at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, a residency in anesthesiology at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, and a fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology from Children’s Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. He also holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.