Migraine & Headache Awareness Week 2021 “Commit to Care”
20-24 September 2021 | Online | Live with Audience Q&A
Migraine and headache seminars will be held online for all Australians by an expert or headache specialist. Each session will include a discussion on a particular topic followed by live audience Q&A. Throughout the week several topics and articles on migraine and headache will also be released. See below for the schedule.
Commit to Care
Commit to Care is about encouraging Australians to re-establish self-care routines as a powerful tool to aid migraine and headache management by adopting a small but simple act each day, tailored to their personal triggers and condition management.
This comes in the wake of recent data indicating disruptions to daily rituals during the onset of COVID-19 were detrimental for Australians with migraine, with many reporting an increase in frequency of severity of migraine.
Schedule & Webinar Registrations
You only need to register once to attend the online webinars during the week. Once you register you will receive a reminder to each event 15 mins before it begins. You are encouraged to set a reminder for yourself in your diary for the seminars you wish to attend. All times are Australian Eastern Time.
Topic: Self-Care & Trigger Management
Speaker: Dr. Bronwyn Jenkins
Date: 6:30 pm Monday 20th September
Registration is for all webinars. Select "Register for all dates" when you select click this button. You only need to register once.
Topic: New Preventive Treatments
Speaker: Dr. Richard Stark
Date: 6:30 pm Tuesday 21st September
Topic: COVID-19, Vaccinations & Headache: Symptoms, Interactions & Other Concerns
Host: Professor Tissa Wijeratne
Date: 6:30 pm Wednesday 22nd September
Topic: Patient Panel – Living With A Headache Disorder
Host: Stephanie Dalzell, ABC Health Reporter
Panelists:
- Gabriella Kelly-Davies, Author
- Sarah Harkness, Business Owner
- Sarah Allely, Journalist and Podcaster
Date: 6:30 pm Thursday 23rd September
Topic: Atmospheric Pressure & Headache: The Highs & Lows
Host: Dr. Michael Eller
Date: 12:00 pm (noon) Friday 24th September
SPEAKERS
Dr. Bronwyn Jenkins
Dr. Bronwyn Jenkins (BMed FRACP) is a neurologist from Sydney, Australia with a subspecialist interest in headache. She is a clinician in private practice and an Honorary Medical Officer at Royal North Shore Hospital. She has participated in the Headache Master School program and written a postgraduate course in headache for the University of Sydney. She is a member of ARCH, IHS and AHS, having been a member on the International Headache Society Board from 2018 to 2020. She is President Elect and Chair of the Education subcommittee for the Australian and New Zealand Headache Society (ANZHS) which aims to improve management of headache patients in the region.
Dr. Richard Stark
As Deputy Director of Neurology for Alfred Health, A/Prof Stark has helped to change the way patients with headaches are treated.
He is the President of the Australian and New Zeland Headache Society (ANZHS). He has held leadership positions in the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists and at the World Federation of Neurologists, where he is active in sharing knowledge and supporting young neurologists’ training. He is also a Trustee and Treasurer of the World Federation of Neurologists.
Dr. Stark has had more than 50 articles published, including recent reviews on migraine management in Australia. He has a busy practice in Melbourne which deals predominantly with difficult-to-manage headache and has extensive experience in managing chronic migraine.
Stephanie Dalzell, ABC Health Reporter
Stephanie Dalzell is a federal political reporter at the ABC’s Parliament House Bureau. She has worked for the ABC for more than ten years, after starting as a cadet in Perth in 2011. She is particularly passionate about health journalism, drawing on her own experience of navigating the health system with chronic migraines, endometriosis, and two brain tumours.
Professor Tissa Wijeratne
Tissa Wijeratne (MD, FRACP, FRSM, FAAN, FAHA, FRCP) is the chair of the Department of Neurology at Western Health, Melbourne, Australia. He is the director of Academic Medicine, director of International Affairs, a senior neurologist, and the director of the Stroke Unit, Neuroscience Research Unit, Movement Disorders Program, and headache program at Western Hospital, Melbourne. Dr. Wijeratne has published 216 papers to date and presented more than 200 brain-related international lectures. His biggest contribution to the world is the 300+ physicians he’s trained throughout his career to date.
He led the first World Brain Day campaign (World Federation of Neurology/International Headache Society collaboration) on migraine, The Painful Truth of Migraine, with over 75 million people from all over the world embracing this campaign throughout 2019. Dr. Wijeratne is also the global chair of the Migraine Special Interest Group at the World Federation of Neurorehabilitation, the global chair for Public Awareness and Advocacy at the World Federation of Neurology.
Gabriella Marie Kelly-Davies
Gabriella Kelly-Davies has been writing stories ever since she mastered the alphabet—now that passion has seen her win three writing prizes. Gabriella has studied life writing at Oxford University, Sydney University and the Australian National University and she is a doctoral student in biography. She is the author of Breaking Through the Pain Barrier about the extraordinary life of pain medicine pioneer, Dr. Michael J. Cousins. Gabriella is also the founder of Share your life story and has written over thirty self-published memoirs, life stories and family histories for her clients. Gabriella is President of Life Stories Australia Association and believes the art of biographical storytelling is a particular writing genre – it’s not fiction, but it requires the weaving of someone’s life story into a form that compels readers to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.
Dr. Michael Eller
Dr. Michael Eller specialises in the management of headache disorders such as migraine and trigeminal autonomic cephalgias (TACs) such as cluster headache. This includes the administration of injections for treatment migraine and the TACs. He also manages other general neurological disorders such as vertigo, cognitive problems, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy and epilepsy. In 2012-2014, Dr. Eller was on the faculty at University of California San Francisco, attached to the UCSF Headache Centre under Professor Peter Goadsby where he conducted clinical and functional neuroimaging research and maintained a headache clinic. He has previously worked as a visiting specialist at Royal Darwin Hospital, and is currently at Monash Neurology.
Sarah Orwell, Business Owner
Sarah is a 36 year old busy mother of three who runs a digital business with her husband Luke. Sarah lives in Bulli NSW and has Intracranial Hypertension and a VP shunt. Sarah was diagnosed in 2019 and is an advocate for self-care and managing symptoms with what you can control (diet, exercise, sleep). As a busy mum and full-time worker from home, she is a professional juggler and knows intimately the challenges that come with managing chronic conditions. In her limited spare time, Sarah volunteers for The Brain Foundation and Sydney Homeless Connect.
Sarah Allely, Journalist & Podcaster
Sarah Allely makes podcasts and radio documentaries for the ABC and other organisations. She previously worked as a journalist for Fairfax and SBS TV, but transitioned to audio after releasing her critically acclaimed podcast, Brain on Nature. Sarah started making the independent series while recovering from a mild traumatic brain injury. She wanted to find out why the natural world was relieving her headaches and improving her focus and concentration, and she wanted to share her story and research with others. Sarah continues to deepen her connection with nature to improve her health and wellbeing.
Join the National Headache Register if you suffer chronic headaches or migraine. It’s free, anonymous and will allow you to attend Migraine & Headache Awareness Week 2021
You’ll also receive updates about new treatments, events, research and opportunities to participate in leading research projects and treatment trials.
#CommitToCare
MHA are excited to announce our partnership with Australia’s favourite oral rehydration solution, Hydralyte, in the lead up to this Migraine & Headache Awareness Week.
To celebrate, Hydralyte are supporting us with the launch of our Commit to Care campaign, to encourage Australians with migraine and headache diseases to commit to one small but simple act of self-care each day throughout September.
Self-care routines are a powerful tool to support the clinical management of migraine and headache, and can be tailored to each person’s unique triggers and symptoms to help reduce the chance of an attack – from reduced screen time, exercise and diet, to staying well hydrated.
To get involved, share your #CommitToCare acts on your social channels, and follow Migraine & Headache Australia and Hydralyte on Instagram.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I register?
You are encouraged to sign up to the National Headache Register which is a private email list that provides those affected by migraine or headache access to the latest new research, treatments, events, updates and opportunities to participate in research and advocacy. In addition to the link in this FAQ response, you can also sign up at the top or bottom of this event page. All the information about the event will be shared via email.
If you’d like to attend a specific online seminar we’d encourage you to register for that event specifically by clicking on the orange register button. There are several on this page corresponding to the seminar topic.
I missed my in-person seminar, is there anyway I can see a recording?
Yes, if you join the National Headache Register then you will be able to access the recordings from recently held seminars. Please allow several weeks after Migraine & Headache Awareness Week for the newly recorded talks to be made available. You will be notified via email with the details. Join the National Headache Register to ensure you are notified.
Are there any in-person seminars in 2021?
Unfortunately due to the pandemic and public safety the entire event has been made virtual for Migraine & Headache Awareness Week in 2021. There are no in-person seminars this year.
How can I watch a previously recorded presentation?
Recordings are available from previous years at the links below:
Can I attend multiple events or seminars?
Yes you can! To attend, make sure you register for the event and are receiving our emails. Then follow the simple instructions to attend the live & online seminar.
What if I am in a remote area?
As long as you have an internet connection anyone in Australia or overseas will be able to register online and watch the seminars.
What is the relationship between Migraine & Headache Australia and the Brain Foundation?
Migraine & Headache Australia is a division of the Brain Foundation, a registered Australian charitable organisation. The Brain Foundation funds research across all neurological disorders, including headache & migraine. Any money donated directly to Migraine & Headache Australia goes to funding Headache & Migraine Research, rather than General Research initiatives. Read more about where your donation goes.
How can I register for just one webinar?
Feedback from the community last year was that participants should only need to register once to attend multiple webinars. This setting has been enabled. If you only wish to attend one webinar that is also perfectly fine however you may receive email notifications for the other webinars when they are about to begin.
Still can’t find your answer? Feel free to submit your question or comment using our feedback form here.
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