Gisela Terwindt, MD, MSc, PhD
Prof. Dr Gisela Terwindt is a consultant neurologist and director of the Leiden Headache Clinic (LUMC) in the Netherlands. She is Chair of the Scientific and Headache Treatment Guideline Committees of the Dutch Headache Society, Chair of the International Headache Society’s Clinical Trial Guideline Committee and Diversity (former Women) Forum, and committee member of The International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3).
Her research focuses on neurobiological and molecular triggering mechanisms that lead to migraine attacks, to identify treatment targets for the prevention of attacks and disease progression with a focus on female specific factors. Her group is also studying the 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 the pathophysiology of common neurovascular disorders including stroke and dementia. Prof. Terwindt is involved in exploring the migraine–stroke relationship, with a special focus on female-specific triggers for migraine and stroke. She has published almost 500 scientific papers and book chapters.
Prof. Terwindt received her MSc in Biology and MD from the University of Leiden, Netherlands. Her PhD centred on the epidemiology and genetics of migraine, and resulted in the discovery of the first migraine gene.
