.jpg "Gisela M. Terwindt, MD, PhD photo")
Professor, Director Leiden Headache Center, neurologist-biologist
Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Netherlands
Prof. Gisela Terwindt is consultant neurologist and director of the Leiden Headache Clinic (LUMC, NL). She is chair of the scientific and headache guideline committee of the Dutch Headache Society and chair of the IHS clinical guideline committee and female leadership’s forum, and participated as a committee member for the Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3).
Her research focuses on neurobiological and molecular triggering mechanisms that lead up to migraine attacks to identify treatment targets for prevention of attacks and disease progression. Her group is also studying pathogenesis of monogenic disorders such as Familial Hemiplegic Migraine and Cerebral Hereditary Angiopathies, which serve as models for migraine pathogenesis and help improve insight into pathophysiology of common neurovascular disorders including stroke and dementia. Terwindt is involved in exploring the migraine–stroke relationship, with a special focus on female-specific triggers for migraine and stroke. She has published ≈350 scientific papers, and received a prestigious personal grant from the Dutch Research Council.
Terwindt received her MSc in Biology and MD in Medicine at the University of Leiden, Netherlands. Her PhD centred on epidemiology and genetics of migraine, and resulted in the discovery of the first migraine gene. See also www.lumc.nl/CHA ; www.hoofdpijnonderzoek.nl ; www.whatstudy.nl