2025 Annual Scientific Meeting Award Recipients

The Early Career Lecture Award is presented to the best paper on headache, head or facial pain, or pain mechanisms, authored by an early career researcher. The recipient is invited to deliver a lecture at the Annual Scientific Meeting. The 2025 award goes to Dr. Eric A. Kaiser of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Kaiser will present his winning research during the upcoming meeting in Minneapolis.

Named in honor of one of the founding figures of headache research, the Harold G. Wolff Lecture Award is given for the best new paper on headache or facial pain. The winner also presents their findings at the Annual Scientific Meeting. This year’s recipient is Dr. Nathaniel M. Schuster, of UCSD Center for Pain Medicine in La Jolla, CA.

The John R. Graham Lecture Award is presented annually and honors the Immediate Past President of AHS or another individual who has demonstrated exceptional international leadership in headache research and education. The 2025 award is given to Dr. Dawn C. Buse, from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, NY.

The Seymour Solomon Lecture Award recognizes a leader who has made outstanding contributions to clinical headache education. The recipient delivers a lecture at the Annual Scientific Meeting. This year’s award goes to Dr. Matthew S. Robbins, of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, NY.

The Above and Beyond Award honors AHS members who have gone above and beyond in their service to the Society in the past 1-2 years. The 2025 recipients are: 

• Sarah M. Bobker, BA, MD – NYU Langone Medical Center
• Mark J. Burish, MD, PhD, FAHS – UTHealth Houston
• Amy Gelfand, MD, MAS, FAHS – University of California, San Francisco
• Christina L. Szperka, MD, FAHS – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia 

The Distinguished Service Award is given to individuals who have demonstrated long-term, meritorious service to both AHS and headache medicine. This year’s honorees are Dr. Kathleen B. Digre, University of Utah; Dr. Bernice Grafstein, Weill Cornell Medicine; and Dr. Elizabeth W. Loder, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. 

The highest honor awarded by the Society, the Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual whose career has had a profound and lasting impact on headache medicine. The 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Dr. Peter J. Goadsby of the University of California, Los Angeles.

• Adriana Della Pietra, PhD – University of Iowa, Impact of glymphatic flow on post-traumatic headache symptoms
• Patrick T. Ebbert, MD – Brigham and Women’s Hospital / MGH, CGRP, Inhibitor and Triptan Prescription Patterns & Ischemic Stroke Risk
• Laura Sebrow, PhD – North Shore University Hospital, Cognitive Difficulties During Migraine Prodrome and Interictal Performance

• Yaseen Awad-Igbaria, PhD – Washington University in St. Louis, NAD+ Precursors in Chronic Migraine Models
• Eric Dunn, DO – Cleveland Clinic, Zavegepant Outcomes Using MTOQ-5 in Tertiary Care
• Mohammed Gamal-Eltrabily, MD, PhD – University of Maryland, Baltimore, A3AR Agonism in Anterior Insular Cortex in Migraine
• Ya-Yu Hu, PhD, MS – University of Texas at Dallas, Stress-Induced Migraine and Glucocorticoids
• Keiko Ihara, MD – Keio University / Mayo Clinic, Barometric Pressure Changes and Migraine
• Sehajvir Madhok, MD – Cincinnati Children’s, REN Therapy for Medication Overuse Headache
• Delia M. Rospiglisosi, MD – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, OnabotulinumtoxinA + CGRP Therapy in Adolescent Headache
• Róli R. Simões, PhD – Washington University in St. Louis, Low-Dose IL-2 to Alleviate Stress-Related Migraine
• Qingling Zhai, MD – Harvard Medical School, Fremanezumab Effects on Cortical Spreading Depression

The Basic Science Award is given to the top three basic science articles published in Headache® during the past year. Awardees present at the Annual Scientific Meeting. The first-place award goes to Dr. Seung-Hee Yoo and Dr. Mark J. Burish for their study, Regulation of headache response and transcriptomic network by the trigeminal ganglion clock.

Watch the video where they talk with Dr. Rashmi Halker Singh about their findings, or read our summary. They will present their findings at the 67th Annual Scientific Meeting in Minneapolis on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at 4:00-4:25 p.m. 

The Member's Choice Award is selected by AHS members and highlights a high-impact Headache® article from the previous year. The winning article was authored by Dr. Fred Cohen, Caroline V. Brooks, MA, Daniel Sun, BS, Dawn C. Buse, PhD, Michael L. Reed, PhD, Kristina M. Fanning, PhD, and Richard B. Lipton, MD, titled: Prevalence and Burden of Migraine in the United States: A Systematic Review. The article will be featured in the July–August issue of Headache® and recognized at the conference.