Juniors Group
Aims
The aims of the Juniors Group are to:
- promote IHS to scientific and clinical trainees in the headache field
- ensure that it meets their needs and remains relevant to their interests and professional development
- find and promote ways in which juniors may contribute to the objectives and activities of IHS.
Members
Chair
Members
- Mohammad Mahdi Al-Karagholi (Denmark)
- Edoardo Caronna (Spain)
- Tatiana Castro Zamparella (Argentina)
- Ayush Chandra (Nepal)
- Soohyun Cho (South Korea)
- Faraidoon Haghdoost (Australia)
- Carlo Lastarria (Peru)
- Kuan-Po Peng (Taiwan)
- Bianca Raffaelli (Germany)
- Eloisa Rubio-Beltran (UK)
- Gloria Vaghi (Italy)
Activities and news
In September 2018 the Trainees and Residents Special Interest Group changed its name to the Juniors Group.
In pursuit of the objectives of IHS, the Juniors Group has several activities which can be summarised as follows:
- facilitate the participation of juniors in headache conferences. Many travel grants are provided by IHS and registration or course fees are often reduced for juniors
- promote contact between juniors. A social event, the Juniors’ Forum, is organised during the International Headache Congress (IHC)
- promote contact between seniors and juniors
- contribute to the IHS website
- participate in educational activities. The Juniors Group has worked with the Education Standing Committee in their development of the Online Learning Centre
- lobby for reduced IHC registration fees for Juniors.
Current activities
IHS Junior Research Grants
The Juniors Group is proudly running the IHS Junior Research Grant programme. This programme aims to support innovative and impactful research from young investigators, promote the career of junior researchers in the field of headache, and to help expand our understanding of headache disorders. Awardees are invited to present their work at bi-ennial International Headache Congress. Applications are considered for basic or clinical headache research, or a combination of both and reviewed and scored by the Juniors Group and the IHS Board.
History
2023 grants awarded
Wei Dai, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China: Graph theory based Transformer architecture for migraine biomarker detection on multi-center functional MRI datasets
Kristin Sophie Lange, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany: Endothelial dysfunction in cluster headache
Jason Ray, Alfred Health, Austin Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia: An evaluation of the tolerability and metabolic effects of adjunctive ketogenic diet therapy in the treatment of chronic migraine
2022 grants awarded
Luigi Iannone, University of Florence, Florence, Italy: Regulation by triptans and ditans of the proalgesic Schwann cell pathway
Eduardo Rivera Mancilla, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands: Endocannabinoid system and TRP channels as potential therapeutic targets for sexual dimorphism in migraine
Thomas van den Hoek, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands: Home-based EEG for early detection of brain state alterations before the migraine attack
2021 grants awarded
Linda Al-Hassany, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands: Cardiovascular risk associated with migraine and coronavirus disease 2019
Bakhtigul Kholmuratova, Tashkent Medical Academy, Tashkent, Uzbekistan: Gender differences and features of the clinical course of primary headaches
Noemi Meylakh, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia: Identifying the underlying neurobiology of chronic migraine
Headache Science Excellence Tournament
The Tournament, which is held during the IHC and MTIS congresses, aims to provide young scientists the opportunity to present their data during a 7-minute talk and discussion. Young scientists not only benefit from sharing their research expertise, but further improve their communication skills and expand their knowledge in the headache field. Applications for this tournament are reviewed in a blinded fashion by the Juniors Group. Six abstracts (3 clinical abstracts and 3 basic science abstracts) are selected for the tournament.
The best clinical and basic science presentations, voted by the audience, will receive a trophy and a 500 Euro award.
Travel grants
The Juniors Group awards travel grants to Juniors who wish to participate in the IHCs. Applicants must be trainees/residents who have submitted an abstract for the congress, but part of the budget is also reserved for trainees/residents coming from developing countries who have not submitted an abstract.
Applications are reviewed and scored by the Juniors Group.
Juniors’ forum
The Juniors Group organises the traditional Juniors’ Forum, which is a networking event (night out with dinner and drinks) that aims to encourage future collaborations and exchange of ideas between junior members of the IHS. The Forum is held during the IHC.
Football match
The Juniors Group organises a football (soccer) match during the IHC which is open for all congress delegates, juniors as well as seniors.
Poster prizes
During the IHC the Juniors Group gives out two poster prizes: a public price, which is voted for by congress participants and a Juniors Group prize for best poster, preferably by a junior scientist, which is selected by the Juniors Group members. Each poster prize is 500 Euros.
General meeting
A general meeting, which is open for all IHS Junior members is held every second year during the IHC. The purpose of the meeting is to provide updates about the activities of the Group and to give the IHS Junior members the possibility to ask questions and propose new junior activities.
IHS Virtual Mentoring Programme
The IHS Juniors Group runs a virtual mentoring programme to promote global mentorship, collaborations, and support within our society.
Mentors and mentees are paired based on either clinical, research, advocacy interests or career paths; the Juniors Group will do its best to match mentors and mentees applications together with a general consensus.
Mentors and mentees should meet virtually to discuss each other’s expectations of this year of mentorship. The expectation is at least three meetings of 30 minutes a year between the mentor and the mentee.
IHS Short-stay Scholarships
The Short-stay Scholarships were introduced by the Juniors Group in 2013 and aim to fund visits from young researchers from developing countries to Headache Clinics and Research Institutions in the country where the international congresses (IHC, AHS, EHF, MTIS) are held. Applications for the scholarship are reviewed and scored by the Juniors Group.
Download
Becoming a member of the Juniors Group
Members of the Juniors Group are elected by all IHS junior members. Up to six members are elected to 4-year terms of office by the members 1 month before the General Meeting of the Juniors Group. Voting will be carried out through an internet-based voting system. Any junior IHS member can nominate himself or herself for vacancies in the Group. Candidates must have been IHS members for at least 1 year prior to nomination.
Note that Juniors from low, lower-middle and upper-middle income countries (see the list here) may join the IHS as Junior Associate members, free of cost, and thereby become eligible as candidates for membership of the group.
The next elections for members to join the Juniors Group will be in 2025.
Bylaws
-
Juniors Group bylaws