International Headache Congress (IHC) 2023 – Seoul, Korea, 14-17 September

Thanks to all who attended the fantastic IHC 2023 Seoul in September.

If you missed it – watch Professors Messoud Ashina and Cristina Tassorelli present the highlights during our recent webinar.

We were pleased to welcome over 1200 delegates to the unique Asian city, our first congress in Asia since 2005.

We received a very warm welcome from the Korean Headache Society and Korean members and many new friends and memories were made.

International Headache Congress (IHC) 2025 – Sao Paulo, Brazil, 10-14 September

We are now looking forward to our next IHC in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in September 2025 – more details will be added soon!

sao paulo skyline

International Headache Congress (IHC)

The International Headache Congress (IHC) is held every second year. The venue is selected by the IHS Board of Trustees in consultation with a Professional Congress Organiser. As an international society, the aim is to hold congresses worldwide, taking into consideration delegate and sponsor appeal.

The IHCs are organised on behalf of IHS through the IHS Trading Company in full consultation with the IHS Board of Trustees, the Congress Presidents and the Scientific Programme Committee (SPC) Chairpersons, who are appointed by the Board of Trustees.

The local Affiliate Society is involved in the organisation, working in conjunction with the congress organiser.

The IHCs provide participants with the latest therapies, developments and research in the headache and migraine field. The congress strives to enhance education, increase awareness, and improve the lives of those afflicted by headache disorders worldwide. The target audience includes physicians, scientists, researchers, international experts and healthcare professionals with an interest in migraine and headache disorders. The congress is a mix of introductory teaching courses, plenary sessions with invited speakers, parallel advanced clinical and scientific courses, as well as platform and poster scientific sessions.

IHC Special Lecture

The IHC Special Lecture is presented at each IHC.

The IHC Special Lecture is offered to a person who has achieved outstanding work in the field of headache research and management, and contributed to the development and establishment of IHS and its activities.

IHC Special Lecture presenters

2023 – Gisela Terwindt: What do we know next about sex-related differences on headaches?
2021 – Jes Olesen: Modelling migraine mechanisms
2019 – Rigmor Jensen: The non-migraine headache: a forgotten problem?
2017 – Peter Goadsby: The premonitory phase of migraine: what is the brain trying to tell us
2015 – Peer Tfelt-Hansen Randomized, controlled trials in migraine: limitations of clinical use and rational use in theories of pathogenesis
2013 – Jean Schoenen: Clinical neurophysiological research in headache syndromes
2011 – Rami Burstein: The blind sight of photophobia in migraine headache
2009 – Michel Ferrari: The CAMERA-II study: a 9-year MRI follow-up study in a large cohort of migraineurs from the Dutch general population
2007 – Karl Ekbom
2005 – Hans-Christoph Diener: The placebo effect in pain: neurobiology and clinical effects