Pain is something Edward Mariano, director of Regional Anesthesia at UCSD, thinks medical patients can do without.

Instead of putting patients under, Mariano, 33, practices and teaches nerve-blocking techniques to numb individual body parts. This results in faster recovery time, getting patients home sooner.

He brings care and pain relief to children around the world as a pediatric anesthesiologist for the Philippine American Group of Educators and Surgeons. He not only cares

for patients, he teaches techniques to doctors. Participating in two to three medical missions a year, he is drawn to helping in the Philippines.

“It means a great deal to go back to the country where my parents grew up,” he says. “Heath care here is so consumer driven, going there is a reality check. I come back with a new outlook and the reminder of why I focused on research.”

Although he spends most of his time in La Jolla, he admits surfing is still on his list of things to do. Recently finding a balance in his life between work and personal, he says this is an exciting time.

Mariano says he likes to spend time with friends and to take in new restaurants. But he also has a quiet side that goes well with his hobbies of reading and running.