Q&A Panel Discussion

Presenters

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  Alopi Patel, MD, FASA

  Associate Professor

  Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School · New Brunswick, New Jersey

  Dr. Alopi M. Patel is a double board certified anesthesiologist and interventional pain physician. She attended New Jersey Medical School at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She completed her anesthesiology residency at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She did her pain medicine fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and continued to work within the Mount Sinai Health System from 2018-2023. She transitioned to Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 2023 where she is now collaborating across departments to create a Chronic Pelvic Pain Center for all genders. She is also certified in lifestyle medicine and encourages the implementation of lifestyle modifications in the treatment of chronic pain conditions.

  Dr. Patel launched a podcast called The Hurt Podcast by The Female Pain Docs which is meant to empower and educate patients regarding their health on topics within anesthesiology, pain medicine and lifestyle medicine. Dr. Patel is actively engaged in clinical research projects and lectures nationally on topics in perioperative and pain medicine. She has won numerous awards for her work in education and advocacy for patients with pelvic pain and women's health conditions.

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  Marciela Schnur, MD, MBA

  System Chief

  The Guthrie Clinic · Ithaca, New York

  Dr. Maricela Schnur is an ACGME fellowship-trained practicing chronic pain physician based out of Ithaca, New York. She earned her bachelor’s degree from NYU and her medical degree from Weill-Cornell Medical College. She also obtained her MBA from the Johnson College of Business at Cornell University in a combined MD-MBA program. After medical school, she traveled to Boston for residency training in anesthesia at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She is a graduate of the chronic pain fellowship program at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester Campus, and practiced rural pain medicine for 5+ years in Duluth Minnesota. There she worked a Dyad Leader at her hospital encompassing the interventional pain, neurosurgery, neurology, PMR and neurosurgery divisions. Recently she has transitioned to the System Chief of Pain Medicine at the Guthrie Clinic in northern Pennsylvania/ Upstate New York. Her interests include archery where she competes both locally and nationally and she enjoys spending time with her two children and husband.

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  Meera Kirpekar, Medical Doctor

  Clinical Associate Professor

  NYU Langone · Rego Park, New York

  Meera Kirpekar, M.D. is a dual board certified physician in anesthesiology and pain medicine with an additional certification in lifestyle medicine. While she treats a variety of pain conditions that affect all areas of the body, she has a particular exepertise in pelvic pain. She is Clinical Associate Professor currently at NYU Langone as well as Director for Section on Women's Pain and has been in practice for over 8 years. To that end, she offers interventional therapies to treat pelvic pain such as pudendal nerve blocks and radiofrequency ablation, ilioinguinal nerve blocks and radiofrequency ablation, genitofemoral nerve blocks and radiofrequency ablation, ganglion impar block, superior hypogastric plexus blocks, peripheral nerve stimulators, and much more. Moreover, she also focuses on a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of pelvic pain that involves the patient’s whole team – surgery, physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, lifestyle medicine, and more. She speaks on pelvic pain at numerous conferences, podcasts, traditional media, and social media platforms and has published in a variety of books and journals on chronic pelvic pain.

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  Jennifer M. Hah, MD

  Associate Professor

  Stanford Medicine · Stanford, California

  Dr. Hah is triple boarded in anesthesiology, pain medicine, and addiction medicine. As a Certified Interventional Pain Sonologist she is dedicated to educating trainees and clinicians in ultrasound-guided interventions, neuromodulation, and evidence-based treatments at the cutting edge. As a clinical epidemiologist and physician-scientist, she leads research at the intersection between mood, pain and medication use. Specifically characterizing risk factors for persistent pain and opioid use after surgery and developing interventions to encourage postoperative opioid cessation. Her research also includes examining mechanisms of peripheral nerve stimulation and identifying biomarkers of pain and neuromodulation treatment response. Dr. Hah is the Co-director of the Stanford Pelvic Pain program with a clinical focus on treating both men and women suffering from a wide range of conditions causing chronic pelvic pain.

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  Kiran V. Patel, MD

  Interventional Pain Specialist

  Northwell Health · New York, New York

  Kiran V. Patel MD is an Interventional Pain Management physician board certified in Pain Medicine and Anesthesiology. Dr. Patel is the Director of Pain Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and Founder/CEO of the NYC Neuromodulation Center of Excellence. She is the ACGME Pain Medicine Fellowship program at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell.
  Dr. Patel is currently the Vice President of NANS and has been on the NANS Board of Directors for the past 6 years. Dr. Patel has co-chaired the NANS Cadaver workshop for the past several years and is currently chair of the NANS Certificate in SCS sub-committee. Dr. Patel is a Director at Large for The International Neuromodulation Society.
  Dr. Patel completed her Anesthesiology residency and Interventional Pain Medicine fellowship at Columbia University.
  Dr. Patel is a founding member of Women in Neuromodulation as well as Women Innovators in Pain Medicine. Dr. Patel is currently Vice President of WIPM.
  Dr. Patel conducts original clinical research and is the Co-Principal Investigator of the RESTORE trial She serves as the Deputy Editor of Pain Practice and as Section Editor of the forthcoming sixth edition of Bonica’s Management of Pain.

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  Arti Ori, MD

  Attending Physician

  Mass General Brigham · Boston, Massachusetts

  Dr. Ori is an academic Pain Physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. After completing an internship year in General Surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dr. Ori graduated from the Anesthesiology residency program at the Brigham. She then completed the Pain Medicine Fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital . Dr. Ori’s interests include intrathecal pump therapy as well as spinal cord, DRG and peripheral nerve stimulation, minimally invasive surgical techniques, and treatment of pelvic pain and cancer pain. She is also interested in addressing racial disparities in Pain Medicine and her passion lies in issues pertaining to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. She enjoys teaching and mentoring and is involved in the Pain Medicine Fellowship Program.