July 2023 Society Spotlight
Special Interest Section Edition: New Investigators and Trainees
The mission of the New Investigators and Trainees (NIT) Section of the American Headache Society is fourfold: to recruit and longitudinally support junior members as they embark into the exciting field of headache medicine, to create a forum for collaboration and mentorship/sponsorship, to foster the passions of junior members and encourage engagement within AHS, and to provide leadership training and professional development of trainees, new practitioners, and clinical investigators.
In the spirit of this mission, the NIT section has implemented various programs over the years within AHS, all spearheaded by junior members and trainees. One of our most successful programs is the Plenary Pals program – a mentorship program for first-time conference attendees to connect with senior attendees to discuss and navigate the meeting’s agenda and network. The NIT section has also developed three pre-course proposals for various AHS meetings over the past few years which highlighted many of our junior members as speakers and expert panelists on those presented topics. These topics – headache education/research dissemination, health equity in headache, and artificial intelligence and machine learning in headache – were derived from the passion projects of junior members within the section, in collaboration with other AHS sections, and were well attended by AHS members.
This year, the NIT initiatives include a formal mentorship program with senior members, and a webinar series on career and professional development, with topics ranging from academic practice to private practice, to working with industry, to basic science research, headache medicine education, work/life balance, and more. One major project NIT section members will be pursuing in the coming years is updating UCNS Headache Board review resources. Under the mentorship of senior members, the NIT section will be creating a range of study materials for those preparing for the exam with the goal of engaging various types of learners in the process.
The NIT SIS is a great section for connecting with other trainees, networking with senior members, collaborating on scholarly activity and research, and for professional development. The camaraderie among section members is palpable, and once you join the NIT section one thing is clear – the future of headache medicine is bright!
Join the New Investigators & Trainees Special Interest Section
Meet the Chair
Anna Pace, MD
Dr. Pace completed her MD at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and her neurology residency and headache medicine fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital, where she is currently an Assistant Professor of Neurology. She is the Director of the Transgender Headache Medicine Program at Mount Sinai where she provides comprehensive care to the LGBTQIA+ community and aims to improve provider knowledge of the unique needs of this patient population.
Dr. Pace is passionately involved in medical education, and she serves as the Director of the Headache Medicine Fellowship, the Director of the Resident and Fellows Headache Medicine Clinic, and as the Associate Course Director for the Brain and Behavior pre-clinical neurology course at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In these roles she interacts with students of all levels including APP’s, medical students, residents, and fellows, focusing on curricular development, and enhancing the educational experience of learners in neurology. She has also been recently appointed as the Co-Chair for the AHS Medical Student Education Task Force and is honored to be helping to lead in important Society initiatives in medical education.
“I’ve been a member of the NIT section since I was a neurology resident, and I have seen firsthand how meaningful this section is for students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty alike. It has been a privilege to serve as the Chair of the New Investigators and Trainees Section, and I am looking forward to all of the great things the members of this section will accomplish in the upcoming years!”