Over the four days of September 8-11, 2022, Migraine Trust, the largest research and support charity for people affected by migraine in the UK, brought the Migraine Trust International Symposium (MTIS) to bring together headache experts, scientists, clinicians, practitioners and specialists from all over the world. The conference held at London Hilton Metropole was run in conjunction with the most important stakeholder: headache patients, particularly those with migraine, and those who care for them.
The conference Chair, Professor Peter Goadsby, delivered the opening remarks, which marked the formal opening of the return to an in-person meeting for the Migraine Trust International Symposium – emphasizing the importance of better migraine care. This was followed by one of the highlights of the conference – the MacDonald Critchley Lecture given by one of the pioneers and giants of the headache world, Professor Lars Edvinson. Professor Edvinson talked about CGRP and gepants on sex hormones and migraine. CGRP was the dominating subject of the conference, from plenary lectures to abstract presentations and satellite lectures.
The second day of the conference has a somewhat sombre mood as the world bid goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II. The conference delegates paid their respect by observing a minute silence before the day started. After that, the day was filled with exciting and cutting-edge topics, such as discoveries in mechanisms, new treatments and information on the impacts of migraine. MTIS’s peak moment was when Professor Rigmor Jensen took to the stage to give her speech on Highs and Lows in Headache as she finally and rightly joined the roster of giants of headache medicine who delivered the Migraine Trust Lecture. She ended her lecture by inviting the audience to join as one choir to sing happy birthday to the legendary Professor Jes Olesen!
Although there was no dedicated session for headache nurses, the members of the International Forum for Headache Nurses board were present at the event. We took this opportunity to meet and network with our members.
The last day of MTIS was when Patient Day was held, where members of the public had a chance to listen to presentations and were given the opportunity to ask questions to leading migraine specialists.
IFHN 