Vanila Singh

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.[4] She is double-certified in anesthesia and pain management from the American Board of Anesthesiology.[18] After serving as a clinical assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center,[3] she became a clinical associate professor at Stanford University Medical School[20] for anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine.[4] Specializing in ultrasound-guided interventional procedures for pain and regional anesthesiology, Singh earned a Masters of Academic Medicine from University of Southern California.[18] Dr. Singh is named as a teaching mentor for the pain fellowship at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.[22]

Singh was named Chief Medical Officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on June 12, 2017,[5] as the primary medical advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health on the development and implementation of HHS-wide public health policy recommendations.[23] Singh chaired the congressionally mandated Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force and launched the National Pain Strategy, the government's first broad-ranging effort to improve how pain is perceived, assessed and treated, and what the effects of the opioid epidemic was on various communities.[24][25] The task force published its report on May 30, 2019,[7] which was endorsed by organizations including the American Medical Association.[26]

She was also appointed as the Acting Regional Health Administrator for Region 9 (California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and six Pacific Islands) in August 2018.[8][9]

Dr. Singh is an independent member of the board of Lucid Lane, a telehealth service for preventing anxiety, pain, and dependence on substances and medication.[27] She was appointed as an independent board of directors member for BioDelivery Sciences, International (NASDAQ: BDSI), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of serious and debilitating chronic conditions.[28][29][30] Dr. Singh is also an independent board member for Virpax Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company developing novel drug delivery systems for pain management.[31][32]

In January 2014[3] she challenged incumbent Mike Honda, a Democrat, to represent California's 17th congressional district (Silicon Valley) in the 2014 midterm elections. She was the first Republican-endorsed candidate to enter the race leading up to the June 3, 2014 open primaries held to select the two main candidates for the official elections in November.[20] Although new to politics, Singh had previously supported politicians such as Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.[3] An early poll in March 2014 indicated Singh ahead of Democratic challenger Ro Khanna and behind Honda.[33] As campaign points[2] she focused on topics such as healthcare reform.[13] She criticized the Affordable Care Act as lacking of physician involvement in the drafting of the legislation, arguing it needed to be overhauled or shut down.[3] She received the endorsement of the Santa Clara and Alameda Republican Party,[10] as well as House Republicans including congressmen Pete Sessions and Eric Cantor, and she was named "one to watch" by the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee.[10]

Voters began casting ballots by mail on May 3[10] and on June 4 Honda and Ro Khanna were the top finishers in the election, followed by Singh with 16 percent of the vote.[11]

In August 2014, Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari named Singh the chair of his "Indo American Coalition team" while campaigning against incumbent Jerry Brown.[15] In July 2016, the press reported that Singh was serving as a California delegate at the Republican National Convention.[17] In September, the Economic Times also reported that she was "actively working with national lawmakers on health policy issues."[1] Singh has since published several chapters and government papers on the opioid crisis.[34]