Support our work
Migraine causes chronic pain and affects relationships, jobs and education. But few have access to effective treatment. We survive only thanks to the support of people like you. Please, if you can, help us continue.
Make a donationMeet the trustees and dedicated staff who make up our charity, and the expert clinicians we work with.
Dr Simone Gregoire / Consultant Neurologist
Dr Simone Gregoire is the National Migraine Centre’s consultant neurologist, bringing with her extensive clinical experience in headache.
Since 2015, Dr Gregoire has been based at the Lister Hospital, Stevenage, where she runs the headache service, as well as general neurology clinics. Her previous clinical neurology work includes posts at the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Dr Gregoire has a PhD in Neuroscience from University College London and has published numerous research papers, with a particular interest in stroke. She is a member of professional bodies including the British Association for the Study of Headache, the International Headache Society and the Association of British Neurologists.
Dr Nazeli Manukyan / Senior GP Headache Specialist
Dr Nazeli Manukyan is a GP in Surrey and a GP appraiser for south London. 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 the Royal College of Physicians (2005) and the 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 / Senior GP Headache Specialist
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.
Dr Munro is now one of the senior GP headache specialists at the National Migraine Centre. 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. She is the Secretary of the British Association for the Study of Headache Council.
Dr Munro is the host of the National Migraine Centre’s Heads Up podcast. She has also written a book as part of the Penguin Life Experts Series called Managing Your Migraine (available via Amazon here). She is available to give webinars or talks in the workplace or in GP surgeries.
Dr Rebecca Walker / Senior GP Headache Specialist
Dr Rebecca Walker graduated from Kings College London in 2004. Through her work in neuroscience specialities, including neurosurgery, ENT and ophthalmology, as well as her career as a GP partner in Sussex, she has developed an understanding of the wide-ranging symptoms of migraine and a passion for holistic headache care.
She joined the National Migraine Centre in 2021 to support people experiencing debilitating headaches and those seeking more information about the condition.
Alongside her interest in headache medicine, Rebecca is also pursuing specialist training in menopause care to enable her to provide comprehensive advice for women who experience change and worsening of migraine during this time.
She has recently moved to Devon, where she works both as a GP and as a headache specialist at the Exeter Headache Clinic.
Dr Cyriac Athappilly / GP Headache Specialist
Dr Athappilly graduated from Barts and the Royal London in 2012 and works as a GP in Buckinghamshire. He has had a longstanding interest in neurology and more recently, headache medicine, partly influenced by his wife’s experience with migraine.
Other interests include lifestyle medicine and mental health. Outside of medicine, he is a keen photographer and father of two young children.
Dr Navjot Dhami / GP Headache Specialist
Dr Navjot Dhami is a GP based in Surrey. She obtained her primary medical degree at the University of Glasgow in 2007. She moved to London where she completed her general practice training, leading to membership of the Royal College of General Practice in 2012. She has a keen interest in headache medicine and dermatology. In her spare time she loves to travel, keep fit and spend time with her young family.
Dr Nazia Hussain / GP Headache Specialist and Headache Specialist Trainer
Dr Nazia Hussain works as a portfolio GP in south Wales. Her special interests include medical education, women’s health and family planning.
Dr Deborah Kerr / GP Headache Specialist
Dr Deborah Kerr qualified from the University of Leicester in 1995, and after four years in hospital medicine, trained as a GP. She has been a GP in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire since 2000, with a special interest in diabetes and in women’s health. Dr Kerr has a personal history of migraine and a CSF leak, which in part sparked her interested in working with the National Migraine Centre.
Dr Sarah Kwan / GP Headache Specialist and Headache Specialist Trainer
Dr Sarah Kwan is a GP headache specialist with interests in women’s health and family planning. She is a GMC examiner for the Professional and Linguistics Assessment Board and enjoys teaching. She developed an interest in headache medicine while studying neuroscience at King’s College London.
Dr Kwan is currently on leave and not taking new appointment requests.
Dr Katy Kyprianou / GP Headache Specialist
Dr Katy Kyprianou is a headache specialist GP based in the West Midlands who runs her own headache clinic in Stourbridge. Since 2019, Dr Kyprianou has developed expertise in various neurological conditions by working on a voluntary basis at a local hospital neurology clinic. She is involved in teaching and has led webinars nationwide for clinicians who are interested in enhancing their knowledge of migraine.
Dr Kyprianou completed her clinical postgraduate neurology studies with distinction at University College London, and now works as a GP with a Special Interest in Neurology.
Dr Cheryl Manna / GP Headache Specialist
Dr Cheryl Manna graduated from University College London in 2002 and has been a partner in a Milton Keynes GP practice since 2007. Alongside headache, Dr Manna’s particular interests include diabetes and mental health. Her interest in headache medicine began while studying studying neuroscience. Dr Manna, who has personal experience of migraine, is a GP medical student tutor and a primary care network director.
Dr Melanie Mountain / GP Headache Specialist
Dr Melanie Mountain works as a GP at a university health centre in London. Alongside her work as a headache specialist at the National Migraine Centre, Melanie also teaches medical students at Queen Mary University of London. Since graduating from Imperial College School of Medicine in 2002, Melanie has worked as a doctor in the UK, India, Belgium and Dubai. Her interest in migraine and headaches has been inspired by the exciting new developments in migraine understanding and treatments.
Dr Lisa Rodolico / GP Headache Specialist and Headache Specialist Trainer
Dr Lisa Rodolico is a GP in Norfolk. Alongside her specialist role in headaches, she is interested in mental health, breastfeeding and menopause. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two young children, as well as friends.
Dr Amanda Statham / GP Headache Specialist
Dr Statham is a GP with a special interest in headache medicine, based in south-west London. Since graduating from St George’s University of London in 2014, she has pursued her interest in headache alongside that of women’s health, including menopause and contraception. Outside of her working life, Dr Statham enjoys yoga and artistic pursuits.
Dr Emma Trewin / GP Headache Specialist
Dr Emma Trewin is a GP based in south London, qualifying at the University of Bristol in 2005. She developed a special interest in headache medicine following a course at the National Hospital of Neurology.
Emma has also worked as an expedition medic, which has taken her to diverse countries and events, including the 2016 Olympics in Rio. She also has a special interest in tropical medicine and inclusion health, has worked in a clinic for refugees and asylum seekers and is a GP appraiser and trainer.
Dr Nicole Wild / GP Headache Specialist
Dr Nicole Wild is a portfolio GP who works as an appraiser, lead education and North-West GP Training Programme director in and around Stockport. Dr Wild previously worked as a GP partner, leading on safeguarding, children’s health and mental health, and has eight years’ experience in psychiatry training.
Her interest in the National Migraine Centre was triggered by a personal diagnosis of TAC, which drove her passion to improve patients’ experiences of headache disorder management.
Note: clinicians are contractors and not employees, providing their expert services at charitable rates.
Dr Michael Long / Education Fellow
Dr Michael Long is a GP partner in Guernsey, with a special interest in headache. He qualified from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in 2008, working in several hospital and GP roles across Devon and Cornwall before relocating to Guernsey. He is currently studying for the Master of Headache Disorders course at the University of Copenhagen.
Dr Richard Wood / Education Fellow
Richard is a GP with a Special Interest in Headache and runs a weekly community headache clinic for the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. He is also a member of the Council of the British Association for the Study of Headache, through which he is involved in teaching and national headache pathway configuration.
He spends two days each week working as a GP in Buckinghamshire and is a GP Trainer. He is also CEO of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Local Medical Committee.
He graduated from Cambridge University in Medicine in 2009 and has a degree in Psychology from St Andrews University (2001) and a DPhil in Cognitive Neuroscience, Oxford University (2005).
Dr Bal Athwal / Trustee
Dr Bal Athwal is a consultant neurologist at the Royal Free Hospital and honorary consultant neurologist at UCL Hospitals. Bal trained in neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and the Royal Free Hospital prior to being appointed consultant at Barnet Hospital and the Royal Free. In addition to general neurology practice he is lead for the specialist headache service at the Royal Free and consultant in hyperacute stroke at the HASU at UCLH.
Katie Cotton / Trustee
Katie leads the major gifts fundraising department at two West Sussex hospices, building on over 20 years’ experience leading major gift fundraising in the charity sector. Katie was director of development at both the Royal Institution and the Chichester Festival Theatre, and was director of major giving at international eye-health charity Sightsavers.
Simon Kingsnorth / Trustee
Simon Kingsnorth is a leading marketing expert with over 20 years’ industry experience. He is the author of bestselling books including Digital Marketing Strategy and The Digital Marketing Handbook. Simon currently leads his own marketing consultancy business, having previously held several senior marketing roles at large brands such as Citi Bank and Vodafone as well as at start-ups.
Julie Price / Trustee
Before taking early retirement, Julie worked in corporate roles for 40 years. Her career spanned the private, public and charity sectors, working as a director at Marsh Insurance Brokers and Zurich Re, as a director in the NHS (both primary and community care) and as a director for a young persons’ charity, Place2Be. Following retirement, Julie has become more involved in the charity sector both as a hands-on volunteer and as a trustee.
Anthony Stratton / Trustee (Chair)
Anthony Stratton has had an extensive international FD career across the pharmaceutical, medical devices and FMCG sectors, including several VP finance and finance director roles of multi-billion dollar multinational pharmaceutical companies. His most recent executive post involved a senior leadership role in a global neurosciences business. Anthony is currently focused on non-executive and trustee roles.
Penny Wilson / Trustee
Penny Wilson is the chief executive of Getting On Board, a trustee recruitment and diversity charity. She was head of community affairs at the University of Cambridge for several years, establishing partnerships with Cambridge charities, overseeing large community events and promoting volunteering by university students and staff. She was then director of partnerships at The Brilliant Club, and subsequently chief executive of Styleability.
Charlotte Burr / Operations Director
Charlotte Burr leads the National Migraine Centre’s operations work, which includes responsibilities for fundraising, compliance, facilities and human resources. She also works alongside Swati Raina on the social media profile of the charity. Charlotte is an experienced operations professional, with previous experience within the information risk and security field. She began her career working freelance in public relations, events and sales for international brands.
Swati Raina / Communications & Clinical Director
Swati Raina coordinates the work of the National Migraine Centre’s clinic, liaising with the clinicians and managing the reception and volunteer teams. She also heads the charity’s communications functions, including producing the award-winning Heads Up podcast. Swati’s career began in marketing, working internationally in prominent roles for multinational corporations. She has a master’s degree in marketing communications and expertise in digital marketing functions.
Dan Tickle / Chief Executive
Dan Tickle is a charity leader with over 20 years’ experience in the sector. Prior to joining the National Migraine Centre, Dan worked as consultant to Social Enterprise UK and was a director at international animal charity SPANA. As chief executive of No Smoking Day, he led an influential health charity and fronted the eponymous UK-wide public health campaign, working with government, NHS bodies and the voluntary sector. Earlier in his career, he led marketing and comms functions for a wide range of national animal welfare, health, youth, and disability charities.
Migraine causes chronic pain and affects relationships, jobs and education. But few have access to effective treatment. We survive only thanks to the support of people like you. Please, if you can, help us continue.
Make a donationThe National Migraine Centre is the UK’s only charity supporting diagnosis and treatment for the one in seven people and up to one in ten children who suffer migraine and other primary headache.
More about the National Migraine Centre