Special Interest Section Profile: Pediatric and Adolescent Headache Section
This group of healthcare professionals advocates for children and teenagers with headache disorders.
The American Headache Society is home to a diverse array of Special Interest Sections that connect members who share expertise and interests so they can collaborate on research, develop practice models and provide multidisciplinary participation in support of the Society’s overall mission.
The goals of the Special Interest Section focused on pediatric and adolescent headache issues are to research and advocate for children and teenagers with headache disorders. Through collaboration, the Pediatric and Adolescent Headache Section works to improve the lives of kids and teens while furthering the field of headache science.
We spoke with Section Chair Amy Gelfand, MD, FAHS, about the group’s ongoing work, and their vision for the future.
Name of Special Interest Section
Pediatric and Adolescent Headache
Name of Section Chair
Amy Gelfand, MD, FAHS
Number of Members
Over 100
What is the mission of your Special Interest Section?
The Pediatric and Adolescent Headache Section is here to serve members of the American Headache Society who are particularly interested in advocating for and advancing the care of children and teens who have headache disorders.
What are some of the topics you are focusing on right now?
With the recent advances in migraine treatments, such as the anti-CGRP antibodies, our Section works to bring together expert opinion in order to provide guidance to clinicians about the nuances of treating kids and teenagers with migraine. We’re working to give clinicians the resources they need to guide their decisions in these situations, which include how to weigh potential risks and benefits of different migraine treatments in this age group.
What are the future goals of this Special Interest Section?
One goal is to become more of an active and collective voice for pediatric and adolescent headache medicine. We want to bring together our collective knowledge and expertise to create things like consensus and advocacy statements to help guide clinicians, families and patients. Through patient education, we can help guide various aspects of acute and preventive migraine treatment, and other primary headache disorder treatment, in kids and teens.
How is this Special Interest Section making an impact in the field of Headache Medicine?
Our section’s impact is focused on collaborating to help children and teens manage and treat their symptoms so that they can develop into adults who either have more manageable migraine or quiescent migraine. We want to ensure that we are providing and creating the best scientific and clinical evidence for caring for this age group.
Educating physicians, health professionals and the public, and encouraging scientific research, are the primary functions of the American Headache Society, and we’re grateful to the Pediatric and Adolescent Headache Section for actively working to advance those goals. By keeping our members updated on the evolving needs of children and teenagers, the members of this Special Interest Section are ensuring that the American Headache Society will remain at the forefront of emerging adolescent and pediatric headache treatment.
If you are an AHS member who would like to get involved in the Pediatric and Adolescent Headache Special Interest Section, get in touch.