As a specialised clinic we have acquired a substantial body of knowledge over the years; knowledge that is constantly evolving. Some of this comes from being a research centre, but most of it comes from the patients we see. Not only do the results of our research feed directly into our clinical care; the information from our patients also feeds directly into our research.
All our medical staff are fully qualified doctors with a specialist interest in migraine and headache, and are registered with the UK’s General Medical Council. Therefore your headaches will never be dismissed as trivial. Our doctors provide expertise on various specialist areas including: neurology, women’s health and ophthalmology. You will be assigned to one specialist who you will usually see at each of your visits. If, for any reason, you would prefer to see a different doctor at a future visit, please let us know.
The National Migraine Centre was inspected by the Care Quality Commission on 31st May 2018. On 2nd August 2018 the report was published to say we had passed the inspection and were safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. To read the full inspection report please click here.
The Team:
Chief Executive
David Bloomfield joined as Chief Executive in September 2017. Originally a PhD scientist his early career in the electronics industry included senior positions in R&D, Innovation, Sales, Marketing, Quality and Customer Service. He represented UK interests at the EC and the ISO. He has supported not-for-profits as a consultant, volunteer, executive and non-executive director and trustee for 17 years and has worked across the health-social care sector. Currently, he is an elected Governor of an NHS Trust and trustee of a small overseas NGO.
To run the Centre we have two office administrators, a Clinical and Communications Director, an Operations Director and several volunteers to whom we are very grateful for all their generous help.
Operations Director – Charlotte Burr
Clinical and Communications Director – Swati Raina
Headache Specialists:
Dr Sarah Miller BSc MBBS MRCP
She is a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery where she specialises in headache disorders and is the lead clinician at the National Migraine Centre. She has an interest in neurostimulation for intractable headaches and headache education for both academic and clinical students.
Dr Nazeli Manukyan MD MRCP MRCGP DFSRH
Dr Nazeli Manukyan is a GP in Surrey, a GP Appraiser for South London and a Headache Specialist at The National Migraine Centre. She obtained her primary medical degree in Armenia in 1992, where she also completed her postgraduate residency in Neurology.
She moved to the UK in 2000 and trained in medical and general practice specialities, leading to the Memberships of Royal College of Physicians (2005) and Royal College of General Practice (2008).
She has been specialising in headache management since 2011 working at The National Migraine Centre and treating patients with a wide range of headache presentations including chronic migraine, cluster headache, and medication overuse headache. Her training in contraception and family planning has been beneficial in dealing with hormonal and menopausal migraine triggers.
She manages her own migraine by enjoying her clinical workload, avoiding NHS bureaucratic burden whenever possible, and devoting her free time to yoga and piano practice.
Dr Katy Munro BM MRCGP DRCOG
Dr Katy Munro was a partner in a Hertfordshire NHS General Practice for 24 years. She was the lead for Mental Health issues in the practice and had a special interest in chronic pain conditions and in bereavement.
She has had an interest in managing headaches for many years and originally attended the National Migraine Centre as a patient herself.
She now works as a GP Headache Specialist at the National Migraine Centre and as an independent GP. She is keen to take a holistic approach and has a wide knowledge of therapies other than medication that can help headache. She has written and contributed to articles for various newspapers and magazines and for the Royal College of Nursing on headache-related topics and is available to give webinars or talks in the workplace or in GP surgeries. She is a speaker at the annual Headache Masterclass. http://www.headachemasterclass.com/programme.php
She has appeared on ITV’s This Morning doing a phone-in for patients with headache queries, in particular, related to new treatments.
Dr Jessica Briscoe BMBS, MRCGP
Dr Jessica Briscoe is a headache specialist and GP who works in Central London. She developed a specialist interest after suffering from migraine for many years and being successfully managed whilst on placement in a headache clinic!
Like all the doctors in the clinic, Dr Briscoe is keen on treating migraine in a holistic way. She is also interested in sports and exercise medicine and is developing an interest in diabetes medicine.
She has recently appeared on Channel 5 News and contributed to a newspaper article in the National Press. She has also started her own blog called ‘Hearts and Hamstrings’, which includes everything health and fitness related. This blog has a dedicated page all about migraine and headaches. Read her blog here: www.heartsandhamstrings.com
Dr Robert Ghosh MB ChB, FRCP, FFICM, MBA
Dr Robert Ghosh is a consultant physician, graduated from Edinburgh University in 1988. His postgraduate training in Edinburgh and St Bartholomews Hospital London led to speciality status in neurology, clinical neurophysiology, intensive care medicine and general medicine which formed the basis of his NHS consultant activities.
Dr Rachel Pidduck MRCGP MBBS BSc (Hons)
Dr Rachel Pidduck is a GP in South East London, and works at the National Migraine Centre.
She studied Human Sciences at University College London. This interdisciplinary degree allowed her to combine Neurosciences and Cognitive Psychology with Humanities and the Arts.
Rachel studied Medicine at Newcastle upon Tyne and completed placements in Neurology, Neuropsychology and Psychiatry.
She is a passionate advocate for improving the care of individuals with chronic neurological conditions, such as migraine.
Education Lead:
Professor Paul Booton BSc(Hons) MB BS FRCP FRCGP
Professor Paul Booton trained in London and as a young graduate worked in Hong Kong with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees during the Vietnamese “boat people” exodus. He returned to train in Internal Medicine and subsequently in General Practice.
His career spanned clinical and academic practice initially as a lecturer at Guys and St Thomas’s Medical school, then as Undergraduate Dean at Kings, Head of Undergraduate Education in Primary care at Imperial and finally as Professor of General Practice and Primary Care at St George’s, University of London.
Through his career, he has continued in clinical practice with interests in internal medicine and neurological aspects of primary care. He always found headache an interesting and worthwhile challenge in Primary Care and was delighted to be appointed as a clinician to the National Migraine Centre with whom he has remained, seeing patients and training doctors for the last 8 years.
He retired from clinical practice in 2018 but continues to work on GP education with the National Migraine Centre.
Board Members:
Mr Anthony Stratton (Chair)
Mr Howard Morris
Dr David Bloomfield (Non-voting member)
Ms Sarah Standing
Ms Ruth Robertson
Dr Bal Athwal
Mr Simon Kingsnorth
Ms Penny Wilson
Charity patron:
Francis Rossi, OBE – co-founding lead singer and guitarist in Status Quo. As a migraine sufferer, Francis has lent his support of National Migraine Centre.
‘As a migraine sufferer of 60 years I know how debilitating the condition is and how difficult it can be to seek specialist treatment. I urge anyone suffering in silence to come forward and seek help from National Migraine Centre’
Annual Accounts:
National Migraine Centre’s most recent annual accounts can be found here.