January 2023 Society Spotlight

Meet Catherine D. Chong, PhD, FAHS, Overall Special Interest Section Chair

As the Overall Special Interest Section (SIS) Chair, Chair of the Post-traumatic Headache Section, and member of the Education, Leadership Development, and Scientific Program Committees, it is an honor to serve the Society.

I am an Associate Professor of Neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. it is my research focus to gain a better understanding of mechanisms and pathophysiology underlying migraine and post-traumatic headache and to develop neuroimaging-based classification and predictive models.

Almost 10 years ago now and encouraged by my mentor, Dr. Todd Schwedt, I attended my first AHS meeting as a post-doctoral fellow where I presented an abstract about imaging findings in patients with migraine. I was immediately hooked. Never would I have imagined a conference that was this engaging and encouraging to junior scientists like myself and new to Headache. At this conference, I was introduced to thought leaders in the field who were welcoming and genuinely interested in my research, and I was eager to get involved with many Special Interest Sections that allowed me to make meaningful and lasting connections with other researchers and clinicians. The friendships I have made at this very first AHS meeting have continued and strengthened over my career.

Last year, 322 new members joined a Special Interest Section and 70% of members are currently participating in one or more section. We are off to a great start in 2023 with many exciting projects being developed by 19 different sections who are busy working on reviews, position papers, pre-courses, webinars, and workshops to advance research and education in Headache. The Post-traumatic Headache Section just kicked off it’s first webinar series focusing on Pediatric PTH and it was a great success, with over 100 registered. We are excited about the next webinar series to be announced shortly. If you’re not yet involved but interested in joining a Section, please click here to view the full list and sign up.

I would like to thank Dr. Charles for including me in the President’s Newsletter and I can’t wait to see you all at the upcoming 65th Annual Scientific Meeting that is packed full of exciting content and state-of-the-art research. On behalf of the Special Interest Sections, we’re looking forward to helping advance AHS’ mission to improve the lives of people impacted by migraine and other headache disorders and the future of Headache Medicine in 2023!

Cat Chong

Catherine D. Chong, PhD, FAHS
Twitter: @chongcd1