Yan Lai

Yan Lai, MD, MPH

Anesthesiologist

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Acute pain

My Specialties

  • Regional anesthesia
  • Pain management
View all expertise
Dr. Lai's Office Information
Languages: English, Cantonese, and Mandarin
Request an Appointment
Our Care Advisors can answer many of your questions. They will connect you with the best healthcare provider for your needs.
Back to top

Get to Know Me

I am a board-certified anesthesiologist with specialty training in regional anesthesia and acute pain management. I specialize in providing anesthesia and pain management for surgeries for all types of cancer. My main areas of clinical expertise are anesthetizing nerves and limbs using sonography, which results in faster recovery and pain control after surgery.

What I Do at MSK

I'm an anesthesiologist at MSK. An anesthesiologist (a-nes-THEE-zee-AH-loh-jist) is a doctor with special training in medicine to make you drowsy or sleep during your surgery or procedure. They monitor your vital signs while you're asleep.

  • Associate Attending Physician
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Acute pain

My Specialties

  • Regional anesthesia
  • Pain management
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, MPH SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Residencies

  • Anesthesiology, Mount Sinai Hospital

Fellowships

  • Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital

Board Certifications

  • Anesthesiology

Awards and Honors

  • Distinguished Educator in Anesthesiology Award, American Society of Anesthesiologists and Society for Education in Anesthesia (2020)
  • Fellow of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (2017)

Insurance Information

Understanding your insurance options is an important part of managing your cancer care. We have relationships with many common healthcare providers and plans.

Don't see your carrier or plan? We can help you understand your coverage.

If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

Make an Appointment

Women talking
New Patients
Scheduling an appointment is easy. Click or call 800-525-2225— we’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Make an Appointment
Current Patients
Request an appointment by logging in to MSK MyChart or calling your Care Team. If you are not enrolled in MSK MyChart, ask your Care Team to send you an invitation. You can also go to MSK MyChart and select “Sign up now.”

Contact and Location

Dr. Lai sees patients at two locations.

Location
New York, NY
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue New York NY 10065
Get Directions
Josie Robertson Surgery Center
1133 York Avenue New York NY 10065
Get Directions

Looking to see a doctor at a different location? See all MSK locations.

Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Anesthesiology Service doctors

Clinical Trials

Smiling doctors in the lab
Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

Search clinical trials

Research and Publications

Pai B.H. P, Patel S, Lai YH. Updated Clinical Review: Perioperative Use of Tranexamic Acid in Orthopedics and Other Surgeries. Advances in Anesthesia 2023 July;41(1). DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aan.2023.05.001.

Lai YH, Gui JL, Arif A, Okorozo A, Van Patten D. Design & Implementation of a Structured Electronic App-Based Intraoperative Handoff Tool for Anesthesia Care Teams: A quality improvement approach. M.E.J. Anesth 2023 Feb;30(1): 2-16.

Lai YH, Fang S, Amor D, Rosenblatt MA, Okorozo A, Parekh RM. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Preoperative Optimization, Surgical Selection, and Complications in Patients with Hip Fracture. Ann Clin Anesth Res. 2023;7(1): 1047.

Pai BHP, Lai YH. Feasibility and Efficacy of Low Thoracic Ultrasound Guided Erector Spinae Plane Blocks in Patients Undergoing Radical Total Mastectomy with Deep Inferior Epigastric perforator (DIEP) Flap Reconstruction. Accepted for publication Ann Plast Surg. 2022 Dec 1;89(6):656-659. doi: 10.1097/SAP.0000000000003290. Epub 2022 Oct 17. PMID: 36416694.

Bh PP, Jinadu S, Okunlola O, Darkzali H, Lin HM, Lai YH. Integrating IPACK (Interspace between the Popliteal Artery and Capsule of the Posterior Knee) Block in an Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Pathway for Total Knee Arthroplasty-A Prospective Triple-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. J Knee Surg. 2022 Aug 9. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-1755355. PMID: 35944566

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Lai’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed