Dr Manjit Matharu BSc, MBChB, PhD

Dr Manjit Matharu is a senior Lecturer at The Institute of Neurology and Honorary Consultant Neurologist at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen square, London, UK. He is the Clinical Lead of the Headache Group at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. Dr Matharu gained his BSc and MBChB from the University of Manchester in 1991 and 1994, respectively. He completed his general medical training in London leading up to obtaining the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) in 1998. He subsequently obtained a PhD at The Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London on Structural and Functional Neuroimaging in Primary Headache Syndromes. He completed his residency in Neurology at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, The Royal London Hospital and Homerton Hospital in London in 2007. Dr Matharu’s major research interests include functional and structural imaging in Primary headaches, trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias and neurostimulation for intractable headaches. He has authored numerous scientific papers.

Professor Anne MacGregor, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Barts Health NHS Trust

Anne is a Specialist in Headache and Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare at Barts Health NHS Trust, London and has an academic post at the Centre for Neuroscience and Trauma at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Although she has undertaken research in all aspects of primary headaches her interest focusses on the effects of sex hormones on headache. In addition to her work in headache she has a Masters in Medical Education and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare of the RCOG.

Dr Joanne Marley BSc (Hons), MPhty,  PhD 

Joanne is an advanced practitioner physiotherapist who specialises in the rehabilitation of persistent pain.  She completed her undergraduate training at Ulster University and her Masters Degree at the University of Otago, New Zealand.  In 2013, Joanne was awarded an HSC R&D Doctoral Fellowship, this  award funded her research into the development and evaluation of behaviour change interventions.  Her research focused on understanding the factors that influence health behaviours in patient populations and the clinical practice behaviours of healthcare professionals.  Clinically, Joanne is keen to improve the integration of research evidence into practice and has been involved in developing, implementing and evaluating several programmes of care for patients with complex pain disorders.  She has published her work and has presented locally, nationally and internationally.   

Dr Andrew Reilly Segerdahl, Bowdoin College, USA (B.A. Hons) University of Oxford (D.Phil.)  London Pain Consortium; Innovative Medicines Initiative; Wellcome Trust 

Andrew is a senior postdoctoral neuroscientist at the Welcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging within the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford, UK. The primary aim of his work is to integrate recent advances in the fields of functional neuroimaging, systems neuroscience, and pain into a clinically relevant research programme aimed at targeting the cortical mechanisms of chronic pain.  Andrews work has been published in top neuroscience, neuroimaging and clinical research journals (e.g.  Nature Neuroscience, Brain, Neuroimage, and Pain) and has been featured in mainstream media outlets including The New Yorker (“The Neuroscience of Pain”), BBC Radio 4 (“From Agony to Analgesia: Seeing Pain”), and on the Ruby Wax podcast series (“No Brainer”; forthcoming Oct. 2018).   Andrew is also a co-founding member of “Seen in STEMM” network at the University of Oxford which aims to bolster the visibility and retention of LGBTQ+ people in Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medical Sciences (STEMM).

Dr Raeburn Forbes, MBChB, MD Consultant Neurologist Southern Health and Social Care Trust

Dr Forbes graduated from Dundee University in 1992 and studied Neuroepidemiology and Health Economics, graduating for a second time from Dundee MD (Honours) in 2000.   He completed neurology training in Northern Ireland in 2003, and was appointed consultant neurologist in Craigavon Area Hospital in 2004.  He has previously co-authored 2 Cochrane Collaboration Systematic reviews and has published in many aspects of neurology, including headache.  His main day to day clinical interests are in assessing neurology patients presenting to the acute medical admissions unit, particularly those with acute onset headache.   Dr Forbes is currently a Board Member of Irish Institute for Clinical Neurosciences which is the leading organisation in Ireland for promoting education in clinical neurosciences to specialist and non-specialist clinicians.  He has served on National Committees with the Association of British Neurologists and the Royal Colleges of Physicians.  His interest in headaches developed as a consultant and he has developed services for GP-centred management, co-authored local headache guidelines for primary care and leads a service for people with Chronic Migraine.  He is a Member of the British Association for the Study of Headache and the American Headache Society.  In 2008 he started writing the severe-headache-expert website, which has had over 5 million visitors  and published ‘The Billionaire’s Book of Headache’ -  a self-help guide to headache - in November 2017.  Expect a clinical lecture with practical tips on the side, sprinkled with evidence.

Mr Quigley graduated from Dundee University in 1996, he completed his neurosurgical training in the Walton Centre Liverpool. Appointed as a Consultant Neurosurgeon to the National Neurosurgical Unit Dublin Ireland in 2006. He moved to Belfast in 2009 and was Clinical Lead from 2012 until 2015. His interests include functional neurosurgery, intra-operative imaging and neuronavigation. He runs a Neuromodulation clinic in conjunction with the Chronic Pain team at Belfast City Hospital. He is a member of the British Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery society and Neuromodulation Society of the UK and Ireland.  He has worked as an advisor for HIQA (Health information and quality assessment ) in the Republic of Ireland and for NICE (National institute for clinical excellence) in the UK. 

Dr Jayne Best, Consultant Neuro-opthalmology Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Miss Best graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 1995. She trained as an ophthalmologist in Belfast and went on to subspecialise in Neuro-ophthalmology, completing a fellowship in Neuro-ophthalmology in 2002 in The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London and Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. She was appointed as a consultant ophthalmic surgeon in The Belfast Trust in 2004 and is clinical lead for neuro-ophthalmology in Northern Ireland. She has an interest in IIH and is a member of BINOC.

Dr Anish Bahra FRCP MD

Dr Bahra gained her specialist neurology training in Wellington, New Zealand, St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospitals and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London. She undertook her research at the Institute of Neurology, University College London, on clinical aspects of cluster headache and, pathophysiological mechanisms in headache using functional imaging. The latter led to the original identification of hypothalamic activation in the Trigeminal  Autonomic Cephalalgias.  Dr Bahra runs tertiary headache services at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and Barts Health. Multidisciplinary services have included paediatric transition clinics with Great Ormond Street Hospital, Migraine-Vertigo clinics and Facial Pain clinics at the National Hospital for Neurology. At Barts Health services include Neurostimulation clinics, a Functional Disorder clinic with neuropsychiatry and neuropsychology and an IIH (Idiopathic intracranial hypertension) service. Dr Bahra is currently leading the Guidelines subcommittee of the British Association for the Study of Headache, is a member of the UK Speciality Certificate Examination Neurology Examining Board,  Teaching Subcommittee of the European Academy of Neurology, London Cancer - Brain and Spine Board, chair of the Whipps Cross Medical Education and Research Trust, and Life member OUCH UK (Organisation for the Understanding of Cluster headache).

Dr Mark Weatherall FRCP FRCP (Edin), Consultant Neurologist, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

Dr Mark Weatherall read medical sciences at Cambridge, then pursued a career as a medical historian for six years, before going back to complete his clinical training. He trained in neurology at Oxford, Nottingham, Preston and Manchester, before an interest in headache brought him to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, where he was a clinical fellow in the Headache Group run by Peter Goadsby and Holger Kaube. From 2007-18 he was consultant neurologist at the Princess Margaret Migraine Clinic, Charing Cross Hospital, and at Ealing Hospital. In 2018 he became consultant neurologist at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. He has clinical and research interests in the history of headache, the factors that drive chronic migraine, and in visual snow. He has served as a Trustee of the Migraine Trust, and is Vice-Chair of the British Association for the Study of Headache.

Dr Louise Rusk GPwSI, South Eastern Trust

Louise Rusk is a GPwSI headache and runs a headache clinic for neurology in Ulster Hospital, South Eastern Trust. She works as a GP in East Belfast.  Louise worked in neurology and neurophysiology in the Royal Group of Hospitals prior to commencing GP training in 2007.   She is passionate about primary care neurology education.  Along with a consultant colleague she delivers a biannual neurology training day for Northern Ireland GP trainees, through the regional training agency NIMDTA. She has taught at GP educational events run by Federations, RCGP, Project ECHO and charities including Epilepsy Action and The Migraine Trust.  Louise is an active member of the British Association for the Study of Headache GPwSI group, and sits on BASH Council.