Imanuel Lerman, MD

Imanuel Lerman, MD, is a board-certified neurologist who specializes in pain management. As a pain management specialist, Dr. Lerman evaluates, diagnoses and treats all forms of pain, including acute, chronic and cancer pain. He has extensive experience in ultrasound guidance for interventional pain procedures and interventional headache treatment, teaching and speaking nationally on these subjects

Dr. Lerman cares for individuals at UC San Diego Health's Center for Pain Medicine, which is dedicated to reducing and eliminating suffering, and improving function in individuals with lower back or other spine-related pain issues, joint and muscular-skeletal pain or pain due to surgery, injury, nerve damage, psychological factors and metabolic problems such as diabetes. He approaches each patient as an individual and believes that treatment plans should be tailored to each person's needs and comfort.

As an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Lerman carries out numerous clinical trials at UC San Diego Medical Center, the Altman Clinical Trial Research Institute, and the VA San Diego Healthcare System. His clinical research studies primarily focus on understanding the impact of neurotechnologies (e.g. spinal cord stimulation, vagal nerve stimulation, and other central and peripheral nerve stimulation) on pain, learning and mental health disorders.

He uses techniques such as brain imaging functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG); both central and peripheral inflammatory profiling; and high resolution evaluation of peripheral autonomic nervous system function to better understand the interplay between pain and inflammation in the central and peripheral nervous system, in both healthy and disease states.

Dr. Lerman completed his fellowship in pain management at Massachusetts General Hospital and his neurology residency at Yale School of Medicine. He earned his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he also obtained a master's degree in physiology and biophysics. He is board certified in neurology, pain medicine and headache medicine (United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties).

Dr. Lerman is a founding board member of the American Interventional Headache Society, faculty and founding member of the Regenerative Medicine special interest group within the American Society of Regional Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, and faculty member for the World Academy of Pain Medicine Ultrasonography.

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For more information, see Pain Management.