Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP is the founder and Chief Medical Officer of the Padda Institute Center for Interventional Pain Management in St. Louis, Missouri. He has practiced interventional pain medicine in the St. Louis region for more than three decades, and holds diplomate status with five American specialty boards.
Five board certifications, and why the combination matters
Board certification in pain medicine is common among physicians who advertise pain management. This particular combination is not, and it is deliberate rather than decorative.
- American Board of Anesthesiology — Diplomate
- American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians (ABIPP) — Diplomate, Certificate No. 229
- American Board of Pain Medicine — Diplomate
- American Board of Addiction Medicine — Diplomate
- American Board of Obesity Medicine — Diplomate
The anesthesiology and interventional pain certifications cover the procedural work: placing a needle precisely against a named anatomical target, under imaging, safely. The addiction medicine certification covers what actually arrives at a pain clinic, since a meaningful share of chronic pain patients present already on long-term opioids that are no longer helping and cannot be stopped abruptly. The obesity medicine certification covers the metabolic environment the painful structure sits in, because insulin resistance, visceral adiposity and chronic inflammation change how the nervous system processes pain signals.
Most interventional practices refer the second and third of those out. Holding all three means a single physician can manage the whole picture rather than the part that fits the specialty.
Additional certifications
- Competency Certification in Regenerative Medicine in Interventional Pain Management, ABIPP (2024)
- Fellow of Interventional Pain Physicians (FIPP)
- Diplomate, Metabolic Health Practitioner
- Certified Physician Executive (CPE)
- MoCA Certified Rater (USPADGU710792792-01)
Training
- Doctor of Medicine — University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine
- Anesthesiology residency — Washington University / Barnes Hospital, St. Louis
- Master of Business Administration — Saint Louis University
Verify these credentials independently
Credentials are only worth as much as your ability to check them. These are the primary sources, not testimonials:
Hospital affiliation: Anderson Hospital, listed under Pain Management.
Independent physician directories carrying his profile include U.S. News, Healthgrades and Doximity.
Professional affiliations
- American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP)
- Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners (SMHP)
- Nutrition Network — advisor
- Low Carb USA — certified
Clinical focus
Dr. Padda’s clinical work centers on treating chronic pain as a problem with structural, neurological and metabolic drivers rather than a symptom to be medicated. In practice that means the diagnostic question comes first: identifying which specific structure is generating the pain, using image-guided injections that double as diagnostic tests, before any treatment is aimed at it.
His areas of concentration include interventional pain management, pain medicine, metabolic health, regenerative medicine, addiction medicine, obesity medicine and anesthesiology. A full account of how that approach is applied at the practice is on the pain management doctors page, and the procedures themselves are indexed in the interventional pain management guide.
Academic and professional leadership
Dr. Padda spent seven years on the faculty of Saint Louis University School of Medicine before moving into full-time interventional pain practice.
- Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology (1992–1999) — Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center
- Assistant Professor, Pediatrics (1993–1999) — Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital
- Associate Director, Pediatric Anesthesiology (1995–1999) — Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital
- Director, Pediatric Acute Pain Management Service (1995–1999) — Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital
- Deputy Director, Institutional Review Board (1998–1999) — Saint Louis University School of Medicine
- Chairman, Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative Medicine and Pain Management — St. Joseph’s Hospital, Kirkwood (1999–2001) and St. Alexius Hospital, St. Louis (2000–2002)
- Faculty, Psychiatry Residency Program (2024–present) — KCU Freeman Health System, pain and addiction
Specialty society leadership:
- President, Missouri Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (2002–2010, and 2023–present)
- Board Member and Examiner, American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians (2007–2009)
- Board of Directors, American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (2008–2010)
- Director at Large, Missouri Society of Interventional Pain Management (2010–2023)
- Chief Medical Officer, Center for Interventional Pain Management (2001–present)
- Medical Director, Center for Regenerative Medicine (2004–present)
He is licensed to practice medicine in Missouri and Illinois, and has held licensure in Arizona, New Mexico, Georgia and Florida. He is also a Department of Homeland Security–designated Civil Surgeon.
Selected peer-reviewed publications
Dr. Padda has published in anesthesiology, pain medicine, critical care and ophthalmology journals, and has served as a review editor for PharmacoEconomics.
- Rauck R, Deer T, Rosen S, Padda G, Barsa J, Dunbar E, Dwarakanath G. Accuracy and efficacy of intrathecal administration of morphine sulfate for treatment of intractable pain using the Prometra® Programmable Pump. Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface. 2010;13:102–108.
- Rosen S, Deer T, Rauck R, Barsa J, Dwarakanath G, Dunbar E, Padda G. Multi-center evaluation of drug delivery accuracy with the Prometra intrathecal infusion pump. Pain Medicine. 2009;10:124.
- Padda GS, Kishioka C, Rubin BK. Propofol and methohexital have no significant effect on mucus secretion or clearance in the anesthetized dog. Critical Care Medicine. 2001;29(5):1045–8.
- Padda GS, Cruz OA, Silen ML, Krock JL. Skin conductance responses in paediatric Harlequin syndrome. Paediatric Anaesthesia. 1999;9(2):159–62.
- White JM, Siegfried E, Boulden M, Padda G. Possible hazards of cryogen use with pulsed dye laser. Dermatologic Surgery. 1999;25(3):250–2.
- Krock JL, Padda GS, Moore J. Ohmeda 7900 ventilator sensor failure. Anesthesia & Analgesia. 1998;86:231–2.
- Padda GS, Cruz OA, Krock JL. Comparison of postoperative emesis, recovery profile, and analgesia in pediatric strabismus repair: rectal acetaminophen vs. intravenous fentanyl/droperidol. Ophthalmology. 1997;104:419–24.
- Azzam FJ, Padda GS, DeBoard J, et al. Adolescent pregnancy testing. Anesthesia & Analgesia. 1996;82:4–7.
- Padda GS, Bowen CH. Anesthetic implication of snake bite envenomation. Anesthesia & Analgesia. 1995;81:649–51.
- Bamshad M, Rosa U, Padda G, Luce M. Acute upper airway obstruction in rheumatoid arthritis. Southern Medical Journal. 1989.
- Padda G. The future of the independent practice after COVID. Pain Physician. 2020;23(4S):S473–S474.
He was also a contributor to the Pain Medicine & Interventional Pain Management Board Review Self-Assessment (2011).
National presentations
Dr. Padda has twice delivered the keynote address at the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians annual conference.
- ASIPP Keynote Speaker, July 2021, New Orleans — “Metabolic Inflammation and the Hedonic Treadmill: Leveraging Inflection Points”
- ASIPP Keynote Speaker, July 2020, Virtual Annual Conference — “Treating Metainflammation and Interventional Pain”
- ASIPP, 2025 — “Revenue Enhancement with Risk Reduction: Measuring Patient Outcomes”
- Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners / Low Carb USA, Boca Conference, January 2025 — “Reimagining Metabolic Health: Scaling Technology-Enabled Solutions”
- ASIPP, 2019 — “Metainflammation,” lecturer
- ASIPP Comprehensive Review Course in Controlled Substance Management, 2007 — lecturer
- ASIPP Comprehensive Pain Medicine Board Review Course, 2006 — lecturer on healthcare ethics, medicolegal issues in pain management and third-party payors
Earlier research was presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Thoracic Society.
Books
- The Starved Brain (2026) — reframing dementia as a metabolic disease of overnutrition, arguing that cognitive decline is driven by the malnutrition of excess.
- Next Level Your Life (January 2023) — coauthor; an Amazon best seller in 41 categories.
Community and charitable work
Dr. Padda operates Valor Medica, a St. Louis nonprofit in Woodson Terrace that manages the medical comorbidities and social determinants of health affecting people moving out of homelessness. Its clinical focus is the population most housing programs are least equipped to treat.
Earlier and ongoing service includes medical missions to Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua with the Catholic Medical Mission Association; the March of Dimes Program Services and Public Affairs Committees as a nonprofit board director; and board roles with Exoneration Nation, Arise Veterans and U Gro. He serves as Executive Director of the Deva Singh Foundation.
He has also spoken outside medicine on how health, incarceration and financial stability intersect, including a 2019 presentation for Exonerated Nation with Loyola Law School and Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefit Programs.
Press and media
Announcements from the practice are collected under News & Press. Releases are distributed through Nectar Media Group’s EIN Presswire newsroom.
Interviews and speaking
Dr. Padda discusses the intersection of chronic pain, inflammation and metabolic health in long-form conversations, collected under Expert Interviews.
Writing on pain medicine
Dr. Padda’s clinical commentary on this site is organized by theme: Hidden Drivers of Chronic Pain, Metabolic & Lifestyle Medicine, Interventional Pain Treatments and Opioid Stewardship.
Where he practices
Dr. Padda sees patients at both Padda Institute offices:
- St. Louis (primary): 4477 Woodson Rd, Suite 100, St. Louis, MO 63134
- Bridgeton: 12174 Natural Bridge Road, Bridgeton, MO 63044
Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Full directions and maps are on the locations page.
Request a consultation
To see Dr. Padda, request an appointment or call (314) 481-5000. Same-day appointments are held for urgent pain problems, and you can also text (314) 886-5902.