Academy Fellow Peter Goadsby FMedSci, Professor of Neurology and director of the NIHR-Wellcome Trust King’s clinical research facility at King’s College London, has been awarded The Brain Prize for 2021.
Professor Goadsby shares the prize with Lars Edvinsson of Lund University, Sweden, Michael Moskowitz of Harvard Medical School, USA, and Jes Olesen of Rigshospitalet, Denmark.
The Brain Prize, awarded by the Lundbeck Foundation in Denmark, is worth one million Pounds. Awarded annually, it recognises one or more scientists who have distinguished themselves by an outstanding contribution to neuroscience.
The four scientists were recognised for their ground-breaking work to understand the fundamental biological mechanism that triggers migraines, a serious neurological disease that for many severely diminishes the quality of life. The economic and societal costs associated with migraine are extremely high - in the tens of billions of dollars worldwide.
On the award of the prize, Professor Goadsby said, “It is an enormous privilege to receive the Brain Prize; really a prize for all the people who have suffered for so long with headache disorders, and for all the excellent scientists who have made an important contribution to this field.”
Professor Goadsby was elected a Fellow of the Academy in 2016 and is one of the world's leading headache scientists. His work pioneered the concept of neuronal, as opposed to vasoconstrictor, treatments in acute migraine - contributing to the development of triptans as the standard frontline treatments for this disorder. He directed the first full-scale controlled trial of oxygen in acute cluster headache and this treatment is now used worldwide for the acute treatment of one of the most painful conditions humans experience. Professor Goadsby's science and translational work has changed the understanding and management of these often very painful and frequent disorders and improved the lives of countless patients.
For more information, please visit the Brain Prize website.