Abstract
Looking for new collaborators in the headache research field? The International Headache Society is the place
My name is Andrea Carmine Belin and I am an elected Trustee on the Board of the International Headache Society (IHS). Over the years the IHS has played an active part in me making many new world-wide collaborations and has thereby allowed me to contribute to the establishment of the international consortium for cluster headache genetics (CCG).
I am an Associate Professor at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden with more than 20-years of experience in the neurology research field and a strong interest in primary headache disorders. My focus is cluster headache and the link to circadian rhythm and genetic factors. I believe that the identification of genetic factors and circadian rhythm in relation to cluster headache will allow insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms and aid the identification of pathways suitable to target in the development of novel and better drugs. My team has established a biobank with biological tissue and clinical data from cluster headache patients and controls. Using this biobank, we have identified links between cluster headache and genes which have critical roles in the generation of circadian rhythms such as circadian locomotor output cycles kaput (CLOCK), and to the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor receptor activity-modifying protein 1 (RAMP1). Through the work of CCG we are currently aiming to gather interested researchers and available samples for a large-scale genome wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of cluster headache as well as driving projects investigating sleeping patterns and gender differences in relation to cluster headache. Preliminary data show increased sleep latency among cluster headache patients compared to controls and gender differences in subtype frequency and treatment
As a headache researcher, it is first and foremost a great honour to have been selected to be part of the IHS board. Current and former board members are all leading players in the headache research field as well as in clinical work and are an inspiration for junior researchers and clinicians. Headache disorders are the most common disorders of the nervous system, but are still underestimated, underrecognized and undertreated. My mission is to change this by taking an active part of the future work of IHS and with my background I believe I can make a strong contribution. This position will also give me opportunities to highlight cluster headache in the IHS organisation, and that which lies extra close to my heart, namely the heredity around various headache disorders.