The Cephalalgia supplement containing the IHC 2017 abstracts are now in the Congress & Calendar section

Late-breaking abstracts will follow soon!

IHS recognises the enormous contribution of Professor Jes Olesen in leading the development of ICHD. ICHD has provided the basis for advances in the clinical and biological understanding of headache disorders and continues to facilitate the progress in treatment.

Professor Hans-Christoph Diener is seen receiving his award from IHS President, Professor David Dodick during the IHC 2017 Opening Ceremony on 7 September 2017

Photo: JON BENJAMIN PHOTOGRAPHY

VANCOUVER, B.C., SEPTEMBER 7-10, 2017 — The theme of the 2017 Congress of the International Headache Society, “New Horizons in Headache,” nods to both the location of the conference in Vancouver, B.C., and to the event’s focus on the new frontier of headache medicine.

“This unprecedented event in headache medicine marks the turning point for a group of diseases that have endured a severe lack of understanding, damaging stigma, historic underfunding for research, and a painfully slow pace of treatment advances,” said Dr. David Dodick, President of the International Headache Society and Co-Chair of the Congress, in his welcoming remarks Sept. 7.

The Presidential Symposium, kickstarting the 2017 Congress of the International Headache Society, follows the first-ever Global Patient Advocacy Symposium, a one-day intensive connecting leaders in headache medicine with public health organizations, patient advocacy groups and other interdisciplinary allies to establish mutual international patient support goals.

Awards and Recognitions

The ceremony opened by honoring the accomplished life of Ninan Mathew (1937-2015), founder of the Houston Headache Clinic and former president of the International Headache Society. Prof. Jes Olesen was the recipient of the IHS Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding accomplishments with the Danish Headache Center, which are exemplary in the field. In addition, Dr. Hans-Christoph Diener received the IHS Special Recognition Award for his integrity, ethics, and professionalism, all of which have earned him remarkable respect amongst colleagues around the world.

Accomplishments

Since the last Congress in 2015, the organization has made several key developments, reaching critical goals that include to sustain and grow global education, build a global network of researchers, and to mentor and develop future leaders, including the development of a women’s leadership program. In addition, the IHS just surpassed the largest membership base in the history of the organization. At the Symposium, Dodick announced that IHS has developed and launched a full, open access companion journal to Cephalalgia, called Cephalalgia Reports. The new journal will include original research papers, review articles, clinical perspectives, case reports, CME articles, technical reports and more.

New Horizons

Called the most exciting field in neurology, and the most groundbreaking moment in headache medicine, new advancements are indeed on the horizon. Highlighting four key breakthrough areas in the field, International Headache Congress began with a Presidential Symposium including presentations to address the new horizons in headache imaging, translational research, genetics and novel treatment targets, presented by Drs. Todd Schwedt, Frank Porecca, Michel Ferrari and Peter Goadsby, respectively.

Global Patient Advocacy Call to Action

In an effort to build an emphasis on patient-centric care, the 2017 Congress was preceded by the first ever Global Patient Advocacy Summit. To continue the momentum, a motion to globalize migraine patient advocacy has been made through the forming of the Global Patient Advocacy Coalition (GPAC). Objectives of the GPAC include country-specific research surrounding the formation of a global migraine approach to advocacy, resources to develop local outreach, evaluation of local initiatives, refinement of tactics and needs assessment.

The Congress brings together hundreds of leaders from the International Headache Society’s membership for four days of lectures, networking, peer education and expert panels focused on the world of headache science, education and management at the unique Vancouver Convention Centre. IHC2017 will include plenary sessions, an extensive poster display and in-depth scientific presentations showcasing basic and clinical research that that promises an exciting future for headache medicine.

“We have the collective brain trust, commitment, and influence in this room today to change all of that for the hundreds of millions who suffer with disabling headache around the globe by building awareness, raising support, delivering education, and improving access to care,” says Dr. Dodick.  

Congratuations to Thomas Linman and colleagues who have received the Cephalalgia Award Lecture for their article 'Circulating endothelial microparticles in female migraineurs with aura'. Cephalalgia 2015;35:88-94

His presentation will take place at the IHC 2017 this evening.

Congratulations to Dr Hans-Christoph Diener, past IHS President, on receiving the IHS Special Recognition Award in 2017.

Congratuations also to Dr Alan Rapoport for receiving his Life Membership certificate as he transitions off the Board having served his term as Immediate Past-President.

Following the IHS Annual General Meeting Dr Lars Edvinsson steps into the role of President.

We welcome Dr Messoud Ashina as IHS President-elect and Dr Mario Peres, Dr Patricia Pozo-Rosich and Dr Todd Schwedt as elected Trustees.

Many thanks to the Trustees who are leaving the Board for their tireless efforts on behalf of the society:

Alan Rapoport - Past-President
Rami Burstein
Fayyaz Ahmed
Werner Becker
Mamoru Shibata
Alessandro Zagami

The abstracts being presented during the 18th International Headache Congress, 7-10 September 2017, Vancouver, Canada, are now published in an online supplement to Cephalalgia

Click HERE to access

SEPTEMBER 6, 2017, 8:00 AM PDT: VANCOUVER, B.C. — For the first time in the history of headache medicine, the top representatives from 49 International Headache Society member groups will gather for a one-day summit to identify the most essential global goals for the field with an emphasis on patient support. The Global Patient Advocacy Summit (GPAS), held on Sept. 6, 2017, kicks off the four-day, 18th Congress of the International Headache Society, and represents a groundbreaking interdisciplinary effort between doctors, researchers, government agencies and patient advocates to design a blueprint to close gaps in headache diagnosis, research and treatment.

“Individuals living with migraine bear multiple burdens. Not only is their disease potentially debilitating, it’s also invisible, misunderstood and deprived of the necessary investment in research that’s proportional to its devastating scope,” said Dr. David Dodick, President of the International Headache Society and Co-Chair of the Congress. “Migraine is identified by the World Health Organization as the third most disabling medical illness on the planet. The Global Patient Advocacy Summit represents a focused, organic partnership between doctors, patients and public health organizations to rectify that inequity, and make progress in the field of headache medicine."

Through a series of panels and interorganizational sessions, the goal of the one-day summit is to identify opportunities for patient advocacy around the globe, and the avenues by which leading professional medical societies, patient advocacy groups, and industry leaders can help facilitate and support these efforts.

“There is a staggering 37 million people living with migraine in the United States alone. Many of those people have never had their symptoms taken seriously or even addressed by a headache specialist,” said Meghan Buzby, Executive Director of the American Migraine Foundation, a partner organization presenting at the summit. “The more resources we can dedicate to education and driving public awareness, the more effective we will be at giving millions of people the tools they desperately need to advocate for their health and overall well-being.”

In addition to patient advocacy, one of the key meeting initiatives is to identify mechanisms to expand and improve patient access to healthcare services and treatment. New research has led to the development of groundbreaking therapies that could change the lives of millions of migraine patients around the world. Still, even in developed countries, migraine and headache research lacks access to publicly available research dollars. The massive and disproportionate lack of funding, relative to the disease's prevalence and its overall economic burden, has resulted in a glacial pace of treatment advances—a problem the summit attendees pledge to overcome in time.

The Global Patient Advocacy Summit represents a robust commitment to headache medicine and a uniform approach to a patient-centric offensive against the disabling disease. Elevating the profile of migraine, educating patients on advocacy opportunities, strategizing solutions to overcome barriers to treatment  and organizing awareness campaigns for employers, governments and the general public are key agenda items the summit will address.

At the conclusion of the one-day event, participants will collaboratively generate a white paper and a strategic blueprint for migraine patient advocacy that will be published in Cephalalgia, the International Headache Society’s medical journal.

Participating organizations include the World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, various nonprofit organizations such as the American Migraine Foundation, American Academy of Neurology and other leading patient advocacy groups and national medical agencies from around the globe.

About the International Headache Society:

The International Headache Society is the world’s leading membership organization for all whose professional commitment, whatever their discipline, is to helping people whose lives are affected by headache. As a charity, the purpose of IHS is to advance headache science, education, and management, and promote headache awareness worldwide. Activities include publication of Cephalalgia, the biennial International Headache Congress, developing guidelines, the international headache classification, educating the next generation of headache specialists worldwide, online education materials and offering grants and fellowships to young physicians worldwide. For more information about the IHS, visit their website: http://www.ihs-headache.org

About Migraine/Headache:

Migraine is the third most prevalent and sixth most disabling medical illness in the world. Despite the more than 1 billion people affected by migraine around the globe, it is vastly underrecognized and undertreated, and there remains tremendous disparity in patient access to education, healthcare services, and drug, device, and non-pharmacological treatments.  Individuals who experience migraine have symptoms that include nausea, sensitivity to light and/or odors, skin sensitivity, fatigue, mood change, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, neck pain and changes in vision, including seeing spots, stars, lines, flashing lights and zigzag lines. The risk of other serious diseases is significantly higher in those with migraine, including stroke, epilepsy, depression, anxiety and chronic pain. Despite this, only one of every three people talk with a doctor about their migraine attacks and of those, only half get the right diagnosis. There is also a massive shortage of specialists focusing on migraine, with one specialist for every 65,000 individuals living with migraine, which worsens the problem.

Media Inquiries:

Lizzie Tufano
(708) 705-0822
lizzie@yakketyyak.com
318 W. Adams Ste 1607, Chicago, IL 60606

The first IHS Global Patient Advocacy Summit (GPAS) will take place in Vancouver, Canada, on 6 September 2017

This will be an unprecedented event in the world of migraine and headache, and will create a roadmap for patient advocacy globally and regionally to minimise barriers and ensure patient access to the best possible care.

The international attendees include representatives from IHS leadership, IHS Affiliate Member Societies, IASP, WFN, AHS, EAN, EHF, AAN, LTB, NHF, numerous patient organisations and advocates, and WHO, FDA, EMA and Health Canada.

During the discussions we will identify opportunities for patient advocacy in each country and the avenues by which leading professional medical societies and industry can help facilitate and support these efforts. This will include devising strategies for educational public awareness campaigns, presentations for employers and regulatory bodies, and mechanisms to expand and improve patient access to healthcare services and treatments that have proven to be safe, effective, and improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The agenda will include presentations from patient advocates and patient organisations as well as health regulatory bodies, and panel discussions during which all delegates will have the opportunity to ask questions of the expert leaders.

The proceedings will be published as a white paper in Cephalalgia during 2018 and activities will be ongoing. We will keep you all updated with this exciting event.

IHS would like to express gratitude to the GPAS sponsors:
Platinum: Amgen Inc., Eli Lilly, Novartis
Bronze: Allergan Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe BV

Don’t miss out on the private preview screening of the Out of My Head film!

A filmmaker, seeking treatment for her daughter’s migraines, discovers a confounding neurological disease; and learns why a condition so ubiquitous and severe remains deeply misunderstood. The film will be shown at Vancouver Convention Centre (East Meeting Room 1 – First floor) on Wednesday 6 September from 18:00 – 20:00.

Watch the trailer HERE

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Headache Common Data Elements (CDE) were developed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical research studies and clinical treatment, increase data quality, facilitate data sharing across studies, more effectively aggregate information into significant metadata results, significantly reduce study start-up time, and help educate new clinical investigators. Since the 2011 release of Version 1.0 of the Headache CDEs, the research community felt that updates were necessary to better serve the purpose of harmonizing data collection.

The updated Headache Version 2.0 CDE recommendations are now available on the NINDS Headache CDE website: https://www.commondataelements.ninds.nih.gov/Headache.aspx#tab=Data_Standards. Comments and feedback for the Headache CDE recommendations will continue to be accepted.

Please direct any questions to Michael.Oshinsky@nih.gov (NINDS/NIH Program Director, Pain and Migraine) and NINDSCDE@emmes.com