At the age of 14, Amanda Beard made her first Olympic appearance at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, taking home one gold and two silver medals. Over the next 12 years, she continued to earn four more Olympic medals, and serve as the captain of the USA Olympic swimming team twice. Between Games, Ms. Beard began modeling in magazines and appearing on national television.
In 2012, she released her New York Times best selling autobiography, In the Water They Can’t See You Cry, which chronicled her personal struggle with bulimia, self-mutilation, anxiety, and depression. Her experience dealing with migraine with aura has never been disclosed until now. A frequent speaker, Beard shares her story of professional and personal triumph via motivational speaking engagements, and passes on her swimming expertise via Beard Swim Co.
Interviews from Amanda Beard
Triumph Over a Private Pain
Dr. Stephen D. Silberstein is the director of the Headache Center at Jefferson University Hospital. He is certified by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties in Headache Medicine. Dr. Silberstein has had over 40 years of distinguished medical service. He has been decorated with Philadelphia Magazine Top Doc Awards (2010-2015), and he has received over a dozen other awards throughout his distinguished career. He holds several editorial and advisory board responsibilities for major headache, migraine, and pain publications including Cephalalgia, WebMD, Medscape, CNS Drugs, Current Pain and Headache Reports and Practical Neurology.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Silberstein has authored or co-authored over 100 hundred articles, chapters, and abstracts. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a fellow of the American Neurological Association. He is also a long-serving member and previous past president of the American Headache Society.
Dr. Robert P. Cowan is a clinical professor of neurology, and director of research at the Headache and Facial Pain Program, Division of Headache Medicine at Stanford. He is board certified in neurology and pain medicine, with a subspecialty certification in headache medicine. Dr. Cowan has held several nationally elected positions, including chair of multiple sections for the American Headache Society (AHS).
He is the past president of the Headache Cooperative of the Pacific and was the founding chief of the headache division in the Department of Neurology at Stanford, and before that, at the Keck School of Medicine of USC (University of Southern California). He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and the AHS. He has served on the boards of the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy and the now-defunct American Headache and Migraine Association. He has published over 200 articles, chapters, abstracts, and posters and is the author of The Keeler Migraine Method.
Interviews from Robert P. Cowan, MD
Unofficial Side Effects of CGRP Monoclonal Antibodies
Long-Term Effects of New Migraine Medications
Why Most Doctors Get the Diagnosis Wrong
Best Natural, Affordable and Free Treatments
Migraine Causes & Triggers
Dr. Deborah Friedman is a neurologist specializing in headache medicine and neuro-ophthalmology. She practices at Yellow Rose Headache and Neuro-Ophthalmology in Dallas.
Dr. Friedman was the founding director of the Headache and Facial Pain Program and the Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics Program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She is board certified in neurology and headache medicine. Additionally, she is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Headache Society (AHS), the American Neurological Association, and the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS).
She served on the board of directors for the AHS, is the president-elect for the Southern Headache Society, is a past president of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS), and is on the steering committee for the Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH) Treatment Trial, which represents the largest prospectively analyzed cohort of untreated patients with IIH. She has published over 140 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 27 book chapters. Her key interests are intracranial pressure disorders, migraine, and cluster headache.
Interviews from Deborah Friedman, MD, MPH, FAAN, FAHS
The Six Most Common Mistakes in Migraine Management
When Headache Starts Behind the Eyes
Latest Migraine Treatment Landscape
The Latest New Treatments for Migraine
Light Sensitivity and Therapy for Migraine
Common Traps of Chronic Migraine
Diagnosing Pressure Headaches vs. CSF Leaks
Research Pipeline: New Migraine Therapies in Development
Cluster Headache
Understanding & Treating Migraine in Older Adults
Dr. Amy Gelfand is a board-certified child neurologist and director of Pediatric Headache at UC San Francisco. She specializes in diagnosing and treating children who suffer from a variety of headache disorders, as well as children with childhood periodic syndromes, such as abdominal migraine, that may be precursors to migraine headache later in life. Her research focuses on the epidemiology and treatment of pediatric migraine and childhood periodic syndromes.
Dr. Gelfand received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Subsequently, she completed a residency in pediatrics and residency in child neurology at UCSF, then subspecialty fellowship training in pediatric headache at UCSF. Dr. Gelfand is a Fellow of the American Headache Society and a member of the International Headache Society and the American Academy of Neurology.
Vincent Martin is the director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center at the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute. He has been a professor of clinical medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine since 2004.
Dr. Martin is immediate past president of the National Headache Foundation and a fellow of the American Headache Society and the American College of Physicians.
Interviews from Vince Martin, MD, FAHS, AQH
The Gut Factor: Exploring the Role of Digestive Health in Migraine
Making the Most Out of Your Doctor’s Appointment
Ehlers-Danlos, Connective Tissue Disorders & Migraine
Migraine Diets and Food Triggers
Surviving Weather-Related Migraine
Dr. Gretchen E. Tietjen is a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School and its neurology residency program. She is a Distinguished University Professor Emerita of neurology at the University of Toledo, where she founded the Department of Neurology in 2000 and led as chair until 2020.
Specializing in headache medicine and vascular neurology, she also directed the Stroke Center for 15 years and the Headache Treatment and Research Center for over two decades. Her research focuses on the relationship between migraine and stroke, including the investigation of the vascular biology in migraine, the association of childhood maltreatment and migraine, and the effects of early life stress on vascular and brain biology in a rodent model.
Dr. Tietjen has published over 160 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, reviews, and editorials. Her research has garnered national awards, including the Stroke Innovation Award from the journal Stroke and the Association of Migraine Disorders Innovation Award, as well as the American Headache Society’s Seymour Solomon Lecture Award, the Harold G. Wolff Lecture Award, the John R. Graham Lecture Award, the Women’s Health Research Lecture Award, and the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award from the AHS.
Patricia Pozo-Rosich, MD, PhD, is a neurologist and one of Europe’s leading migraine experts. She leads the Neurology Department at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona and directs the Migraine Adaptive Brain Center, a national reference center focused on advancing migraine research and care. She also heads the Headache Research Laboratory at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR) and serves as president-elect of the International Headache Society.
Dr. Pozo-Rosich is deeply committed to helping people understand migraine as a complex neurological disorder and improving access to effective treatment. She founded the Spanish-language education site MiDolordeCabeza.org and has authored more than 250 scientific publications. Her work has received multiple national awards, and she serves as associate editor for leading headache journals. She has been principal investigator in more than 100 clinical trials and is an active member of international headache genetics consortiums.
Interviews from Patricia Pozo-Rosich, MD, PhD
European Headache Treatment Update
Navigating COVID with Migraine in Europe
How Pain Works in the Migraine Brain
How to Get the Most from Your Doctor
Solving the Puzzle of What’s Causing Migraines
Dr. Elizabeth Leroux is a well-respected headache neurologist currently practicing at the Montreal Neurological Clinic. Previous affiliations include the Montreal University Headache Clinic and the University of Calgary’s Calgary Headache Assessment and Management Program (CHAMP).
Dr. Leroux is past president of the Canadian Headache Society, the founder and chair of Migraine Canada, and the founder of Migraine Quebec. She is the designer of the Canadian Migraine Tracker app, and lead of the Continuing Medical Education (CME) mastermind program on migraine. Her current focus includes therapeutic education, cluster headache, vestibular migraine, and patient advocacy.
Andrew Levy is an Edna Cooper Chair in English at Butler University. He is the author of the critically acclaimed A Brain Wider Than the Sky, and the Slatten Award-winning biography, The First Emancipator. His work also includes: Huck Finn’s America (2014), The Culture and Commerce of the American Short Story (1992), Postmodern American Fiction: A Norton Anthology (1994), and he is co-editor of Creating Fiction (1994).
In addition, his essays have appeared in Harper’s, American Scholar, Missouri Review, and Best American Essays. Reviews and public appearances include: Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Spin, Sports Illustrated, C-Span, Salon, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and National Public Radio: All Things Considered and This American Life. He also teaches American literature, culture, and creative writing
Dr. Jessica Ailani is board certified in neurology, with added certifications in neurology and headache. She is a professor of clinical neurology and vice co-chair of strategic planning for MedStar’s Georgetown University Hospital.
In addition, she is director of the MedStar Georgetown Headache Center. She is a specialist in headache and women’s health and is dedicated to patient education. Dr. Ailani is also a member of several professional societies, as well as a fellow of the American Headache Society and the American Academy of Neurology.
Interviews from Jessica Ailani, MD, FAHS, FAAN
Controlling Chronic Migraine
Nondrug Migraine Treatments That Work
Expert Tips to Manage Persistent Migraine Pain
Hormonal Migraine Seasons in a Woman’s Life
Steve Baskin, PhD, started the Behavioral Medicine Service at the New England Center for Headache in Stamford, Connecticut, and he is an attending psychologist at Greenwich Hospital of Yale-New Haven Health. He is a past president of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB). He is a current member of the board of directors of the Headache Cooperative of New England and a past board member of the American Headache Society and the Connecticut Psychological Association.
He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, and a frequent reviewer for the journals Headache and Cephalalgia. He lectures frequently at national and international meetings, and he has published extensively on primary headache disorders, most recently on comorbid psychiatric factors that may chronify migraine and complicate treatment.
Interviews from Steven M. Baskin, PhD
Understanding Migraine-Related Mood Disorders
