Abstract
Headache science, curiosity and sharing
Neurology was the discipline I chose from the beginning, because, in my view, it was the field of medicine with the highest number of unanswered questions. The step from there to headache was almost automatic: headache was the perfect, challenging jigsaw puzzle, with so many different pieces, so many facets and so many gaps to fill! And I was lucky enough to have mentors – from the eminent Italian headache school – even more curious, fond of phenomenology, and, at the same time, of noumenology than I was.
It is a long time since my first contact with the IHS community; during IHC 1991 in Washington, the paper derived from my thesis was awarded the Greppi Prize and I had the honour of presenting the results. Since then there have been many papers, many steps ahead in headache science, and many wonderful people met along the road – friends, almost family.
This is why I was honoured when, in 2009, I was asked to submit my nomination for the elections of the IHS Board of Trustees and I was truly moved when I was elected in the first electronic ballot in the history of the IHS. As happiness and commotion settled down, I realized the responsibility of the new position and I knew that it was even more important to continue what, together with other fantastic, dedicated people, we had started: making headache science (basic and clinical) more and more rigorous, to ‘spread the word’, to disseminate breakthroughs and advances so that doctors and sufferers everywhere in the world could be reached, especially in places and countries where other health priorities may hinder the right of every headache sufferer to receive the best possible treatment.
Promoting and conveying headache science at a transnational and transcultural level, and taking on board and encouraging good research and clinical practices are the crucial missions the IHS will have to accomplish in the near future.
Cristina Tassorelli
Headache Science Centre, National Neurological Research Institute C. Mondino Foundation, Department of Public Health and Neuroscience, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
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Keeping the money safe
I was appointed to the role of Honorary Treasurer in September 2010. Over the last 40 years my working life has been spent in the voluntary sector, mainly working in the field of sexual and reproductive health, mostly for young people. The charities that I ran provided services in the UK and in later years in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
I joined The Migraine Trust as Chief Executive in March 2006. I had enormous respect for the organisation long before this and was pleased to be in a position to play a part in taking it forward and making it more accessible to the many millions of people affected by migraine in the UK.
I have chaired Headache UK (an alliance of charities working in the headache field) since 2009 and am currently a Council member of the British Association for the Study of Headache (BASH). As Secretary to the Board of the European Headache Alliance, I have learnt a good deal about the extent of headache services across Europe.
My interests have been in charity governance and in particular the importance of the control of financial aspects of the organisation concerned. My task is to ensure that the finances of the IHS are on a sound footing and stay that way. I want the finances to be transparent and therefore easy for the non-financial mind to understand.
My priority is to look after the funds and secure the financial future of the Society.
Wendy Thomas
The Migraine Trust, London
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