60 Years of Scientific Meetings

Recap of the American Headache Society 60th Annual Scientific Meeting

To commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the American Headache Society Scientific Meeting, a record number of attendees congregated in San Francisco. Held from June 28-July 1, nearly 1,400 specialists from around the world shared their groundbreaking research, heard insights from leading headache and migraine experts and attended lectures on the latest scientific advancements in our field.

Here are only a handful of the many highlights from our conference.

The Women’s Leadership Development Course

The 2018 Women’s Leadership Development Course chaired by Rebecca Burch, MD, FAHS; Rashmi B. Halker, MD, FAHS; and Rebecca Erwin Wells, MD, MPH, FAHS, preceded the start of the official Scientific Meeting, with a course that included four presentations, emphasizing key elements of successful mentorship, work-life integration with personal health and career goals, and identifying leadership opportunities. AHS President Kathleen Digre, MD, FAHS, and Former AHS President Elizabeth Loder, MD, MPH, FAHS, served as panelists on the discussion My Career in Medicine and How I Make It Work, along with other distinguished women in our field: Sheena Aurora, MD, FAHS; Judy Lane, MD; Allison Brashear, MD; and Denise Chou, MD.

Awards & Recognition

We are honored to have the opportunity to recognize Neil Raskin MD, FAHS, at #AHS18SF. This is a pivotal, exciting time for #headachemedicine, and Dr. Raskin’s clinical contributions have been instrumental to the progress we have made in the field. pic.twitter.com/zAcxY4zsmy

— American Headache Society (@ahsheadache) June 29, 2018

The Scientific Meeting officially kicked off with opening remarks from our new AHS President Kathleen Digre, MD, FAHS, on Thursday afternoon, followed by the Symposium to Honor the work and contributions of Neil H. Raskin, MD, FAHS. Dr. Raskin has many accomplishments in headache research and medicine over his 60-year career, and the three presentations included with the symposium highlighted his work to advance the understanding of migraine and headache disorder among health care professionals. As a recipient of the American Headache Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award and a former President of the Society, we thank and honor Dr. Raskin for his leadership and his clinical contributions to our field.

Richard B. Lipton, MD, FAHS, delivered his fifth Harold G. Wolff Award Lecture on “Identifying Natural Subgroups of Migraine Based on Profiles of Comorbidities and Concomitant Conditions: Results of the Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes Study.”

R. Allan Purdy, MD, FAHS delivered the John R. Graham Lecture on “Teaching Headache Neurology 2018,” in which he explained the critical role of neurology in headache medicine.

Deborah I. Friedman, MD, MPH, FAHS, delivered the Seymour Solomon Award Lecture on spontaneous intracranial hypotension. Following the lecture, Dr. Digre presented Robert B. Daroff, MD, FAHS, with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication to the field of headache medicine.This year’s recipients of the Above & Beyond Award, presented to individuals who have provided significant service to the field of headache medicine, was awarded to Rashmi B. Halker Singh, MD, FAHS and David Watson, MD, FAHS. We also would like to recognize Cheryl Gallagher who won the Distinguished Service Award.

We congratulate all of these individuals for their exemplary work

Scholarships and Presentations

The Scientific Meeting hosted several award presentations to recognize individuals who are advancing the field of headache medicine. Recipients of the Frontiers in Headache Research Scholarship Isaac Dripps, PhD; Eric Kaiser, MD, PhD; Tsubasa Takizawa, MD, PhD; all presented their research during the meeting. The Runnin’ for Research Advocacy Award was presented to Melissa Moore, MD, and Julio Quezada, MD.

Migraine Moment Short Film Contest

The 3rd Annual Migraine Moment Short Film Contest received a record-breaking number of submissions this year. This year’s winner, Maria Galli, presented her moving film, “Invisible Hero,” to a packed audience and was met with a standing ovation. We are emboldened by all of the inspirational films that were submitted to this year’s contest, and will continue to highlight them on our website and social media throughout the year.

Members’ Choice Award

Each year, Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain Editorial Board invites Society members to vote for one standout publication in the journal from the previous year. At the Scientific Meeting we announced the 2017 winners of the Members’ Choice Award: “Headache in Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension: Findings From the Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Treatment Trial,” published by Deborah I. Friedman, MD, MPH; Peter A. Quiros, MD; Prem S. Subramanian, MD; Luis J. Mejico, MD; Shan Gao, MS; Michael McDermott, PhD; Michael Wall, MD; and the NORDIC IIHTT Study Group. Congratulations to the team.

The key objectives of this year’s Scientific Meeting were to explain the biology underlying the fluctuating clinical features of migraine, identify the science around common clinical issues in headache, and recognize emerging therapeutic strategies for the treatment of headache disorders. A sincere thank you to everyone who participated in and attended this year’s Scientific Meeting. We clearly succeeded in our mission.

We also want to thank all of the attendees for engaging with our social media efforts throughout the conference and for showing your support for the hard work that is advancing our field. Your tweets and photos gave those who were unable to attend access to the key developments and happenings from San Francisco. For a full recap of the 60th Annual Scientific Meeting and to relive the event, we encourage you to visit #AHS18SF hashtag on Twitter.

Lastly, the American Headache Society would like to thank all of our members and sponsors for making our 60th Annual Scientific Meeting a success. We are dedicated to sharing knowledge and advancing the field of headache medicine, and there truly has never been a more exciting time to be involved in the field of headache medicine. We hope that everyone left the meeting feeling inspired and invigorated by our colleagues’ research and the field’s future. The conversation doesn’t end here. We can’t wait to see what next year’s meeting will bring.