Gisela Terwindt, MD, PhD

Professor of Neurology
Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands

Dr. Gisela Terwindt is consultant neurologist and director of the Leiden Headache Center at the Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands. She is chair of the Scientific and Headache Guideline Committee of the Dutch Headache Society, chair of the International Headache Society (IHS) Clinical Trial Guideline Committee, and chair of the IHS Women’s Leadership Forum. She has also participated as a member of the IHS committee in preparing the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3).

Her research focuses on neurobiological and molecular triggering mechanisms that lead up to migraine attacks in order to identify treatment targets for the prevention of attacks and disease progression. Her group is also studying the pathogenesis of monogenic disorders such as 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 vascular dementia. Dr. Terwindt is involved in exploring the migraine–stroke relationship, with a special focus on female-specific triggers for migraine and stroke. She has published over 350 scientific papers and received a prestigious personal grant from the Dutch Research Council.

Dr. Terwindt received her master of science degree in biology and her doctor of medicine degree at the University of Leiden, Netherlands. Her PhD research centered on the epidemiology and genetics of migraine and resulted in the discovery of the first migraine gene.