Vanila Singh

Vanila M. Singh is an American physician and professor with involvement in United States health policy.[1] Singh was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 2014.[2] Early in her career she taught at UCLA Medical Center,[3] and she is currently an associate professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine at Stanford University Medical Center.[4] On June 12, 2017,[5] she was appointed the chief medical officer to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a presidential appointment at the Senior Executive Service level.[6] She served as Chair of the Inter-Agency Pain Management Task Force established by the CARA Act of 2016, which released its final report on acute and chronic pain management best practices on May 30, 2019.[7] Dr. Singh was also appointed as the Acting Regional Health Administrator in Region 9 (California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and six Pacific Islands) in August 2018.[8][9]

With various Republican Party endorsements,[10] in early 2014 Singh announced a campaign against incumbent Mike Honda to represent California's 17th congressional district (Silicon Valley) in the US House of Representatives.[2] In the primaries Singh came in third[11][12][13][14][1] In August 2014, Neel Kashkari named Singh the chairperson of the Indo American Coalition during his campaign for the governorship of California.[15][16] In 2016, she was a California delegate at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.[17]

Singh is vice chairman of the National Physicians Council on Health Policy. She is also on the California Medical Association among other organizations, and in 2016 she was named to the editorial board of Interventional Pain Letters.[18] For 2016 and 2017, she was named chair of the professional standards/conduct committee of the Santa Clara County Medical Association.[19]

Early life and education

Vanila M. Singh was born in Bikaner, India. At age one[20] her parents Lalit and Leela Mathur[3] immigrated to the United States.[21] The family moved to California when she was four years old,[20] and she spent her youth in Fremont, California,[13] attending Niles Elementary School, Centerville Junior High School, and Washington High School.[16] During her childhood her parents helped establish the Hindu Temple in Fremont, also founding the Rajasthani Association of North America.[20]

Singh was accepted to the University of California, Berkeley where she double-majored in economics and molecular and cell biology.[16] Graduating with a B.S.,[4] she then moved to Washington, D.C. to become a medical student at the George Washington University Medical Center,[3] where she received her M.D..[4]

Career

Medical roles

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]

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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, as the primary medical advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health on the development and implementation of HHS-wide public health policy recommendations.[22] Singh helped launch 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.[23]

2014 campaign and platform

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] She filed the paperwork for her candidacy on December 26,[20][3] and within a month had raised around USD$100,000.[2] Although new to politics, Singh had previously supported politicians such as Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, the first Hindu member of the House of Representatives.[3] On January 17, 2014, The South Asian Times reported that "observers believe… Singh could combine support from Republicans, women and Indian Americans to come in at No. 2 [in the district election]."[3] An early poll in March 2014 indicated Singh ahead of Democratic challenger Ro Khanna and behind Honda.[24] According to The Mercury News, after Singh announced her candidacy "Khanna spent big before the primary, even airing television ads, in trying to ensure Singh didn't peel away too many 'anyone but Honda' votes."[25] As campaign points[2] she focused on topics such as healthcare reform.[13] Criticizing the "totally political"[10] Affordable Care Act, she drew attention to the lack of physician involvement in the drafting of the legislation, arguing it needed to be overhauled or shut down.[3] Her campaign had led to a "sudden flowering of old-style urban ward politics in and around San Jose" with new candidates.[12] Receiving the endorsement of the Santa Clara and Alameda Republican Party.[10] House Republicans including congressmen Pete Sessions and Eric Cantor also came out in her support, and she was named "one to watch" by the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee.[10]

Primary results and political roles

Voters began casting ballots by mail on May 3,[10] and on May 5, 2014, Singh published an op-ed on school choice in The Mercury News.[21] On May 14, 2014, Singh held a campaign event at her headquarters that included press and gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari.[26] Around that time, the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that some of "Honda's supporters in the labor movement have also been donating to [Singh] in hopes of boosting her into second place and knocking Khanna out of a runoff."[27] On June 3, 2014 The Washington Post included Singh on their "she the people" list of women to watch.[14] On June 4, 2014, Honda and Ro Khanna were the top finishers in the election, followed by Singh with 16 percent of the vote.[11]

In August 2014, Neel Kashkari named Singh the chair of his "Indo American Coalition team." Kashkari at the time was campaigning against incumbent California governor and incumbent Jerry Brown,[15] with Singh supporting Kashkari in press statements.[16] On July 18, 2016, the press reported that Singh was serving as a California delegate at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena.[17] In September, the Economic Times also reported that she was "actively working with national lawmakers on health policy issues."[1] In November 2016, Singh was reported by India West as one of 2017 Asian-American women "trailblazers" in the annual "Saris for Suits" calendar.[28] On June 12, 2017,[5] she was appointed the chief medical officer to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a presidential appointment at the Senior Executive Service level.[6] Dr. Singh has since published several chapters and government papers on the opioid crisis.[29]

Election results
California's 17th congressional district election, 2014
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mike Honda (incumbent) 43,607 48.2
Democratic Ro Khanna 25,384 28.0
Republican Vanila Singh 15,359 17.0
Republican Joel VanLandingham 6,154 6.8
Total votes 90,504 100.0


Personal life

A resident of the Bay Area of California, Singh is married[20] with two children.[21]

Awards and Achievements

Vanila Singh was awarded the Philipp M. Lippe award on February 28, 2020, from the American Academy of Pain Medicine for outstanding contributions to the social and political aspects of pain medicine. [30][31]

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See also
  • United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2014

References
  1. Duttagupta, Ishani (September 18, 2016), "With US election day round the corner, desi techies in Silicon Valley talk politics", The Economic Times, retrieved March 19, 2017
  2. Marinucci, Carla (January 14, 2014), "Silicon Valley Republican raises $100K for House run", SF Gate, retrieved March 19, 2017
  3. "Dr Vanila Singh joins contentious Silicon Valley House race", South Asian Times, Forsythe Media Group, January 17, 2014, retrieved March 19, 2017
  4. "With demographics shifting, Congressman Mike Honda faces political challenge of his life", East Bay Times, May 17, 2014, retrieved March 19, 2017
  5. "Vanila M. Singh M.D., MACM". HHS.gov. 7 July 2017.
  6. "Notable People". News Center.
  7. Health (ASH), Assistant Secretary for (2019-05-30). "Pain Management Task Force Issues Final Report on Best Practices for Treatment of Pain". HHS.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
  8. "Annual CxO Summit 2018". Northern California Chapter of HIMSS. 2018-09-11. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  9. Health (ASH), Assistant Secretary for (2007-05-31). "Region 9". HHS.gov. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  10. Marinucci, Carla (April 25, 2014), "Vanila Singh uses odd tactics in Silicon Valley House race", SFGate, retrieved March 19, 2017
  11. Silicon Valley Rep. Mike Honda, Challenger Ro Khanna Advance To November Election, CBS San Francisco, June 3, 2014, retrieved March 19, 2017
  12. Klein, Joe (May 15, 2014), "California's New Jungle Primary System", Time, retrieved March 19, 2017
  13. Duttagupta, Ishani (February 16, 2014), "Ro Khanna vs Vanila Singh: Indian-Americans may clash for a Congressional seat in Silicon Valley", The Economic Times, retrieved March 19, 2017
  14. Henderson, Nia-Malika (June 3, 2014), "The women to watch for in Tuesday's primary battles", Washington Post, retrieved March 19, 2017
  15. Sohrabji, Sunita (August 25, 2014), "Neel Kashkari Names Vanila Singh to Head Coalition", India-West, retrieved March 19, 2017
  16. "Vanila Singh to Head Republican Candidate Neel Kashkari's Coalition Team", India.com, September 5, 2014, retrieved March 19, 2017
  17. Anthony, Laura (July 18, 2016), Contentious no-vote against Trump leads off RNC, ABC News, retrieved March 19, 2017
  18. Bio - Vanila Singh, Stanford University, retrieved June 8, 2017
  19. 2016-2017 SCCMA Committees, Santa Clara County Medical Association, 2017, retrieved March 19, 2017
  20. Dutt, Ela (2014), "Another Physician Enters Race for Congress in California", New India Times, retrieved March 26, 2017
  21. Singh, Vanila (May 5, 2014), "Dr. Vanila Singh: School choice is the key to student success", Mercury News, retrieved March 26, 2017
  22. https://www.hhs.gov/ash/about-ash/leadership/vanila-m-singh/index.html
  23. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2018/05/01/members-appointed-new-pain-management-best-practices-inter-agency-task-force.html
  24. "Ro Khanna trails behind Mike Honda, Vanila Singh: Poll", The Indian Eye, March 7, 2014, retrieved March 26, 2017
  25. Richman, Josh (November 19, 2015), "Fremont Republican enters race to unseat Rep. Mike Honda", Mercury News, retrieved March 26, 2017
  26. Mason, Melanie (May 14, 2014), "In Silicon Valley, Kashkari touts GOP's inclusivity", Los Angeles Times, retrieved March 27, 2017
  27. Green, Joshua (June 3, 2014), "A Bitter Silicon Valley Primary Shows Democrats Squabble, Too", Bloomberg, retrieved March 27, 2017
  28. Rathore, Reena (November 4, 2016), "Former CNN News Anchor Patti Tripathi Releases 'Saris to Suits' Calendar to Empower South Asian Women - Updated", India West, retrieved March 26, 2017
  29. "Advancing the Practice of Pain Management HHS Opioid Strategy". HHS.gov. 1 November 2017.
  30. Reporter, SUNITA SOHRABJI/India-West Staff. "Former HHS Official Vanila Singh Receives Prestigious Award for Work in Pain Management Amid Opioid Crisis". India West.
  31. "Philipp M. Lippe, MD Award". AAPM.
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