David A. Edwards MD, PhD

Dr. David A. Edwards, MD, PhD, is a physician, neuroscientist, and doctor of physiology. He was born in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, and moved to the United States after high school to seek a medical education.

He attended the University of Maryland, where he completed a combined MD/PhD degree on a full scholarship. During his doctorate in Neurophysiology, he discovered and described some of the initial mechanistic pathways of the endocannabinoid system of the brain — the brain's natural signaling system that enables learning and memory. He then spent 4 years at the University of Florida training in Internal Medicine and Anesthesiology as Chief Resident. His research involved the effects of anesthesia on the pediatric brain and AI predictive models of the development of post-surgical pain.

Dr. David then did fellowship training in Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) of Harvard University in Boston. He taught at Harvard Medical School while leading the Acute Pain Service and Pediatric Pain Clinic at MGH, and worked as a Neuroanesthesiologist at MGH and a Pain Specialist at Martha's Vineyard Hospital.

In 2015, Dr. David and his wife, Amber, moved to Nashville with their 3 children. He established the first Chronic Pain Service at Vanderbilt, the Cancer Pain Clinic, and Pain Medicine clinics in Clarksville, Spring Hill, Mt. Juliet, and Nashville — recruiting and building teams of psychologists, rehabilitation specialists, anesthesiologists, and research nurses.

Dr. David is board-certified by the American Board of Obesity Medicine, the board that certifies physicians in obesity and weight management. Dr. David served as the Chief of Pain Medicine at Vanderbilt University in the departments of Anesthesiology and Neurological Surgery. He is past President of the Tennessee Pain Society and has published over 60 articles, authored 8 books, and spoken regularly on optimizing health, preventing and treating pain, and the discovery of new tools to bring relief to patients who suffer.