Emily Lai
Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Division of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, and Pain Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Division of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, and Pain Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2018 | University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, US, Doctor of Medicine |
| 2012 | University of Texas, Austin, Texas, US, Marketing, Bachelor of Business Administration |
Postgraduate Training
| 2022-2023 | Postgraduate Fellow, Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas |
| 2019-2022 | Postgraduate Fellow, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas |
| 2018-2019 | Postgraduate Fellow, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2025 | National Board of Echocardiography |
| 2024 | Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support Certification |
| 2023 | Texas Medical Board License |
| 2023 | American Board of Anesthesiology |
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2024. Anesthesia for IR procedures. Invited. Grand Rounds. Houston, Texas, US.
Regional Presentations
- 2024. “Let Them Sleep”- Airway Management of a Large Mediastinal Mass (Right Chest Sarcoma): A Case Report. Poster. Texas Society of Anesthesiologists (TSA) Meeting. San Antonio, TX, US.
- 2022. Occupational Hazards in Anesthesia. Invited. Grand Rounds - Virtual, Texas, US.
- 2020. Continuous Suprascapular Block To Treat Malignant Shoulder Pain That is Exacerbated by Radiation Therapy. Poster. Annual Pain Medicine Meeting 2020 (Virtual), US.
- 2020. Broken Swan-Ganz Catheter After Inability To Successfully Position. Poster. American Society of Anesthesiologists (Virtual), US.
- 2020. Pharmaceutical Cost Reduction in the Operating Suite. Poster. American Society of Anesthesiologists (Virtual), US.
- 2020. Pharmaceutical Cost Reduction in the Operating Suite. Invited. Grand Rounds - Virtual, Texas, US.
- 2016. Effectiveness of Splanchnic Nerve Neurolysis for Targeting Location of Cancer Pain: Using the Pain Drawing as an Outcome Variable. Poster. American Pain Society's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting. Austin, TX, US.
- 2015. Improvement in the Assessment of Pain. Poster. Celebrating Improvement at MD Anderson event. Houston, TX, US.
National Presentations
- 2024. Airway Management of a Large Mediastinal Mass (Right Chest Sarcoma): A Case Report. Poster. Society for Airway Management (SAM) Meeting. Boston, MA, US.
- 2024. Ultrasound-Assisted Spinal Anesthesia in Setting of Post-COVID Pulmonary Sequelae. Poster. American Society of Regional Anesthesia (ASRA) Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2018. Medical Alert Tattoos – A Pinch of Style Along with Patient Safety. Poster. Society for Pediatric Anesthesia and the American Association of Pediatrics- Pediatric Anesthesiology Meeting. Phoenix, AZ, US.
Formal Peers
- 2025. Workshop Presenter: Taught ultrasound guided peripheral intravenous access and arterial access to workshop attendees, US.
- 2025. Local Anesthetic Systemic Toxicity simulation: Facilitator. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. Workshop Presenter: Taught ultrasound guided peripheral intravenous access and arterial access to workshop attendees, US.
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Huang H, Lai E, Bhavsar S, Miller B, Chung J, Phillips B, Feng L, Soliz JM, Brown J. Comparison of Intraoperative Fentanyl Usage and Waste After Transition from 100-mug Vials to 50-mug Preloaded Syringes: A Single-Center Retrospective Study. Int J Anesth Clin Med 12(2):109-115, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39665116.
- Lai EA, Nesrsta EA, Bodiford JM, Jain RR. Medical alert tattoos-A pinch of style along with patient safety. Paediatr Anaesth 28(12):1154-1155, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30511798.
- Cox-Martin E, Trahan LH, Cox MG, Dougherty PM, Lai EA, Novy DM. Disease burden and pain in obese cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Support Care Cancer 25(6):1873-1879, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28124735.
- Novy DM, Engle MP, Lai EA, Cook C, Martin EC, Trahan L, Yu J, Koyyalagunta D. Effectiveness of Splanchnic Nerve Neurolysis for Targeting Location of Cancer Pain: Using the Pain Drawing as an Outcome Variable. Pain Physician 19(6):397-403, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27454270.
Editorials
- Lumsden S, Lai E, Cata JP. The ideal regional block after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: do we have it?. J Thorac Dis 16(4):2674-2676, 2024. PMID: 38738221.
Letters to the Editor
- Tsai EH, Huang H, Lai E, Wang M, Ruiz J. Sitting position, face-to-face rapid sequence intubation with the Airtraq video laryngoscope for cancer patients with higher aspiration risk. J Clin Anesth 106: 111909, 2025.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified December 03, 2025