Abstract
I would like to start my term as President by acknowledging the work of my predecessor Professor Hans-Christoph Diener. This is not done simply because it is polite or expected, rather as a genuine expression of the admiration I have for the work he has done; indeed for the person. He took on the job at the difficult point when the IHS financial position was very difficult and the Society needed a firm hand. He steered us to a safe position and organized a remarkably successful meeting in Berlin. He did the heavy lifting needed to kick-start many important projects so that he leaves the Society much better off – we thank him loudly and sincerely.
For myself, I ran for the position with three goals in mind: to make the Society as transparent as possible in its dealings, to promote a new leadership cadre and to ensure the IHS stays at the forefront of clinical and scientific work in headache.
For transparency, I have renamed this section Board Walk – a stroll by what the elected officials are doing. The aim is for each of your elected Board members and important Committee chairs to tell you what they are doing. I hope this will enable members to judge more easily who you elect and thus may wish to re-elect. I hope we can be clear where we spend our limited resources and you will know what areas the various Board members are responsible for. I hope this makes it easier for members to take a view and express it to your Board.
For the new leadership cadre you will see several things. David Dodick as Editor-in-Chief has done an excellent job promoting newer investigators and clinicians. You will see the next Congress in Boston endeavor to promote further the best people, whatever their stage. Moreover, you will continue to see the Juniors section develop as a special area where many of tomorrow's leaders will emerge. These areas will have my support and attention.
In terms of smooth transition I want to thank Judy Lutz-Burns for all she has done for the Society. She took on a largely thankless job as secretary at a very complex time of transition and made it sound and well organized. I was very glad to see Stefan Evers take this task on and look forward to working with him. I am particularly pleased to be working with Wendy Thomas, Chief Executive of the Migraine Trust, as treasurer. A professional in every sense of the word, I think the development of having patient group involvement at the highest level in the IHS is a strong statement of how seriously we take the very substantial disability to patients that headache disorders cause. Having our finances watched carefully by a professional will keep us on our toes; this can only be good for our reputation. Moreover, if there was any doubt about how seriously we take our patients, this can surely be no more.
Lastly, in terms of the science, I asked Michel Ferrari to lead the IHS side of the next congress, and he has assembled a first class team. We have an ongoing and firm commitment to our research and clinical fellowships. We can say many things, but it is the science of headache that has changed, and is changing, the perceptions of what we do. It is the burgeoning understanding of the neurobiology of the problem that provides the solid foundation our field now enjoys. It is only through exploiting basic science knowledge through clinical studies that tomorrow's therapies will benefit our patients – these principles the IHS will adhere while I am your President.
Peter J Goadsby MD PhD DSc FRACP FRCP
President, IHS