Biography

Professor Messoud Ashina is Professor of Neurology at the University of Copenhagen and Director of the Center for Discoveries in Migraine, a prestigious Center of Excellence funded by the Danish National Research Foundation, awarded to groundbreaking research programs with global impact. He also serves as Senior Consultant at the Department of Neurology, Danish Headache Center, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen.

He received his medical degree from the Azerbaijan Medical Institute and later obtained his PhD and Doctor of Medical Sciences (DMSc) from the University of Copenhagen.
Professor Ashina is Past President of the International Headache Society (2019–2021) and Past General Secretary of the European Headache Federation. He is a Fellow of the European Academy of Neurology, and a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.

His pioneering research has advanced the understanding of migraine and cluster headache pathophysiology, identifying new signaling pathways and therapeutic targets including PACAP, VIP, amylin, adrenomedullin, prostaglandins, and the ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel.

He has authored more than 700 publications and has received numerous prestigious awards, including Monrad Krohn’s Prize for the Advancement of Neurological Research, the TÜBA Academy Prize in Health and Life Sciences, and the KFJ Prize for Outstanding Research in Health Science.

Disclosures

Employment: Danish Headache Center, Rigshospitalet Glostrup, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Society Leadership/Board: Past President-International Headache Society

Personal fees: AbbVie, Astra Zeneca, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Lundbeck, Pfizer, and Teva

Research support: Danish National Research Foundation, Lundbeck Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novartis, and Lundbeck

Data Safety Monitoring Board/Advisory Board: AbbVie, Astra Zeneca, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Lundbeck, Pfizer, and Teva

Clinical trials involvement: Ongoing AbbVie, Lundbeck and Pfizer

Relationship with scientific journals: Associate Editor: The Journal of Headache and Pain and Brain; Editorial Board of Neurotorium and has received honoraria

Commercial interests: None