Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP, is the headache physician at Headache Express. He is an interventional pain physician board certified in anesthesiology, pain medicine, interventional pain, addiction medicine and obesity medicine, licensed in Missouri and Illinois.
He has also lived with chronic cluster headache since he was seventeen. The clinic is built by someone who knows the attack from the inside. The story of why is on the About page.
Why a pain physician treats headache
Interventional training is what makes same-visit nerve blocks and SPG blocks possible. Addiction medicine training is why medication overuse gets named here instead of missed: the cycle that turns episodic headache into daily headache is the same one that makes frequent acute dosing feed itself. Obesity and metabolic medicine are why the bloodwork matters. A brain that keeps running short on fuel has a lower threshold for every trigger on the list.
Where did Dr. Padda train?
- University of Missouri–Kansas City — BA in Biology, then MD
- General surgery training at Cook County Hospital, University of Illinois–Chicago
- Anesthesia residency at Illinois Masonic
- Anesthesia residency, Washington University–Barnes, with pediatric anesthesia at St. Louis Children’s; Chief Resident 1991–92
- MBA in International Business Studies, Saint Louis University
- Certified Physician Executive, American College of Physician Executives
What is Dr. Padda board certified in?
- Anesthesiology
- Pain Medicine
- Interventional Pain Management — Diplomate, American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians
- Addiction Medicine
- Obesity Medicine
- Metabolic Health Practitioner, Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners
- Fellow of Interventional Pain Physicians
Added competency certifications in Coding, Compliance and Practice Management (2009), Controlled Substance Management (2010), Nutrition Network Advisor (2023) and Regenerative Medicine in Interventional Pain Management (2024). Licensed in Missouri and Illinois, among other states. Individual NPI 1427035955.
Academic and leadership
- Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology (1992–99) and of Pediatrics (1993–99), Cardinal Glennon / Saint Louis University
- Founding Director of the Pediatric Acute Pain Management Service (1995–99)
- Saint Louis University Institutional Review Board — Deputy Director (1998–99)
- Faculty, KCU Freeman Health System psychiatry residency, pain and addiction (2024–present)
- Center for Interventional Pain Management — Chief Medical Officer since 2001
- Center for Regenerative Medicine — Medical Director since 2004
- President, Missouri Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (2002–10, 2023–present)
- Board Member and Examiner, American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians; ASIPP Board of Directors
On the national platform
His keynotes for the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians include Treating Metainflammation and Interventional Pain (2020) and Metabolic Inflammation and the Hedonic Treadmill (2021), and he spoke on Reimagining Metabolic Health for SMHP / LowCarbUSA in January 2025. His published research appears in Neuromodulation, Pain Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesia & Analgesia and Pain Physician.
In the press
- Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD Puts the New Low-Carb Guideline to Work in Pain Care: Medicines Change Before Pain Does (EIN Presswire, October 7, 2026). Explains why the new Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners guideline on low-carb eating names migraine among the conditions that can improve, and why the medicines prescribed for headache are reviewed on the first day.
What that means for your visit
The attack in front of us gets treated first. Then the work is figuring out what the headache actually is, so the next one is less likely. If what you have needs someone else, you will be told that on the day.
Board certifications and affiliations
