Migraine Research Initiative

Accelerating Migraine Research

The Association of Migraine Disorders is devoted to accelerating the most promising area of neuroscience research: migraine.

AMD’s Migraine Research Initiative is led by AMD’s research committee consisting of brilliant, leading researchers who help identify knowledge gaps in migraine to influence future research projects. AMD provides funding for innovative research projects through its grant program. Finally, AMD strives to form an inter-institutional and multi-disciplinary network of migraine researchers and medical professionals through its resource hub and communication platform, the Migraine Science Collaborative.

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Migraine Science Collaborative

The Migraine Science Collaborative is a non-profit news website and information resource hub for the global community of migraine and headache basic scientists, clinical researchers, and clinicians. MSC produces original research news and opinion pieces, literature recaps, data visualizations, podcasts and webinars, and provides professional resources including grant opportunities, job postings, and event listings.

 

MSC is geared primarily to professionals working in any area of migraine research and/or care. MSC welcomes members at all career stages, including undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs, as well as investigators at more advanced career levels working in academia, government, companies, and other settings. Membership is free.

AMD’s Migraine Research Initiative is led by AMD’s research committee consisting of brilliant, leading researchers who help identify knowledge gaps in migraine to influence future research projects. AMD provides funding for innovative research projects through its grant program. Finally, AMD strives to form an inter-institutional and multi-disciplinary network of migraine researchers and medical professionals through its resource hub and communication platform, the Migraine Science Collaborative.

Research Advisory Committee

KC Brennan, MD, PhD

KC Brennan, MD, PhD

University of Utah

Basic mechanisms of migraine and post-traumatic headache

Larry Charleston IV, MD, MSc

Larry Charleston IV, MD, MSc

University of Michigan

Headache Disorders

Paul Durham, PhD

Paul Durham, PhD

Missouri State University

Cellular and molecular mechanisms, epigenetics

Gregory Dussor, PhD

Gregory Dussor, PhD

University of Texas at Dallas

Pathological mechanisms and therapeutic targets for migraine headache.

Georgia Hodes, PhD

Georgia Hodes, PhD

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Sex differences in the peripheral and central immune system 

Dan Levy, PhD

Dan Levy, PhD

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre & Harvard Medical School

Research Focus: Intracranial meninges and its trigeminal sensory innervation

David Jang

David Jang, MD

Duke University

Research Focus: Otolaryngology

Felicia Jefferson, PhD

Felicia Jefferson, PhD

Fort Valley State University

Research Focus: Sleep science and minority research career development

Shivang G. Joshi, MD

Shivang Joshi, MD, MPH, RPh

Research Focus: Headache disorders

Deena Kuruvilla, MD

Deena Kuruvilla, MD

Yale School of Medicine

Research Focus: Headache disorders

William Renthal, MD, PhD

William Renthal, MD, PhD

Brigham and Women’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School

Research Focus: Human genetics related to migraine pathophysiology

Jelena Pavlović, MD, Ph

Jelena Pavlović, MD, PhD

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Focus: Hormonal regulation of migraine

Nasim Maleki, PhD

Nasim Maleki, PhD

Massachusetts General Hospital

Research Focus: Sex-related contributions to migraine disease

Angela O'Neal, MD

Angela O'Neal, MD

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Research Focus: Women’s neurology

Michael Teixido, M.D.

Michael Teixido, MD

Thomas Jefferson University

Research Focus: Otolaryngology and migraine

Amynah Pradhan, PhD

Amynah Pradhan, PhD

University of Illinois

Research Focus: Translationally significant animal models of headache 

Gretchen Tietjen, MD

Gretchen Tietjen, MD

University of Toledo

Research Focus: Migraine, stroke, early life stress, vascular biology

Stephen Silberstein, MD, FACP, FAAN, FAHS

Stephen Silberstein, MD, FACP, FAAN, FAHS

Thomas Jefferson University

Research Focus: Headache disorders

RizkHabib-ENT

Habib Rizk, MD

Medical University of South Carolina

Research Focus: Vestibular and balance disorders

Carl Saab, PhD

Carl Saab, PhD

Cleveland Clinic

Research Focus: Translational research in chronic pain

Grant Program

We believe our grant programs create a consistent effort to support the early careers of researchers with an interest in migraine disease. Our nonprofit organization resembles the role of venture capital organizations that nurture start-up companies.

AMD has developed a comprehensive program that helps not only to fund specific research projects, but also to launch the careers of those willing to specialize in migraine research. We offer programs to introduce students into this area of neuroscience, through shadowing programs, travel grants, small introductory grants and then support more experienced researchers to explore new ideas with intermediate-sized grants, managed by the Migraine Research Foundation.

Our expectation is that the best of these ideas will be ready to apply to much larger grants, such as those offered by NIH. The most unique aspect of our program is our support of interdisciplinary migraine-related research at the Brown Institute for Brain Science and the funding of a post-doctoral fellowship in migraine research.

Previous Incubator Grants

The Migraine Research Foundation (MRF) and the Association of Migraine Disorders (AMD) previously partnered to fund research projects.

Previous grants awarded to:

The Carney Institute for Brain Science Post Doctoral Research Position

This unique program funds an opportunity for a graduate student to launch their career in migraine research at the Brown Institute for Brain Science.

  • First recipient: Tyler Clark Brown, PhD
  • Second recipient: Bruno Pradier, PhD

Resident Research Grant

The program offers one-year grants to any otolaryngology residents conducting a research project that is related to improving our understanding of migraine variants. The Resident Research Grants are available at any time.

We are using CORE to administer our Resident Research Grants. You can follow this link to see more info and to apply for a grant.

Research Funded By AMD

2022

CORE Grant – $10,000

  • Project: Migraine in Patients with Vestibular Schwannoma and the Impact of Treatment
  • Principal Investigator: Omid Moshtaghi, University of California, San Diego

2020

CORE Grant – $10,000

  • Project: Clinical Utility of Multifrequency VEMP in Vestibular Migraine Diagnosis
  • Principal Investigator: Janet Choi, USC

2019

MRF Grant – $48,000

  • Project: Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA and nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes in familial migraine with aura
  • Principal Investigator: Lyn Griffiths Ph.D., Queensland University of Technology

CORE Grant – $10,000

  • Project: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for the Treatment of Vestibular Migraine
  • Principal Investigator: Eric Formeister, UC SF

2017

MRF Grant – $50,000

CORE Grant – $5,500

  • Project: Randomized clinical trial of nortriptyline in treatment of vestibular migraine
  • Principal Investigator: Hossein Mahboubi, UC Irvine
  • UPDATE: Research ended due to lack of participants

2016

MRF Grant – $50,000

  • Project: Microglial proliferation in women with menstrual migraines
  • Principal Investigator: Clas Linnman, Boston Children’s Hospital

2015

MRF Grant – $50,000

  • Project: microMIG: searching for new biomarkers in migraine using microRNA expression profile analysis
  • Principal Investigator: Patricia Vall, Pozo-Rosich, d’Hebron University Hospital

2014

Direct Grant – $190,000

  • Project: Patterns of Migraine Disease in Otolaryngology: A CHEER Network Study
  • Principal Investigator: David Witsell, MD, MHS, Duke University

MRF Grant – $50,000

  • Project: Gastroparesis in Monogenic Migraine Mouse Models
  • Principal Investigator: Robert Shapiro, UVM

MRF Grant – $50,000

  • Project: Use of Next Generation Sequencing Technology to Identify Novel Hemiplegic Migraine and Migraine Related Mutations.
  • Principal Investigator: Lyn Griffiths Ph.D., Queensland University of Technology

Direct Grant – $50,000

  • Project: The Role of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors in Migraine
  • Principal Investigator: Maggie Waung, University of California San Francisco

Direct Grant – $50,000

  • Project: A prospective randomized cross-over trial of nortriptyline and topiramate in the initial treatment of vestibular migraine
  • Principal Investigator: Anthony Mikulec, MD, Saint Louis University