AAN 2026 | Exciting advances in migraine research and efforts to overcome disease stigma
Andrew Russo, PhD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, comments on the exciting advancements in the migraine field. Dr Russo highlights that migraine is a severely debilitating disease, often stigmatized as a “woman’s disease”, but now, with the development of targeted treatments, researchers are bringing hope to those affected by this condition. This interview took place at the 78th American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.
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Transcript
This is a super exciting time in the migraine field because of two reasons. One is we have the basic biology tools now to start looking at what’s going on with migraine. And I’ve mentioned some of the CGRP, PACAP, endocannabinoids, all the different ion channels, the vascular, the glymphatic, lymphatic systems. So it’s gone from being just a vague headache with weird symptoms, how do you even approach that, let alone in a mouse, to now we have actual specific targets to be looking at...
This is a super exciting time in the migraine field because of two reasons. One is we have the basic biology tools now to start looking at what’s going on with migraine. And I’ve mentioned some of the CGRP, PACAP, endocannabinoids, all the different ion channels, the vascular, the glymphatic, lymphatic systems. So it’s gone from being just a vague headache with weird symptoms, how do you even approach that, let alone in a mouse, to now we have actual specific targets to be looking at. We look at basic neurological mechanisms. So that’s the first thing exciting about migraine field now for research is that we have the tools and ideas that are crisp and firm. The second thing is more on a personal human level that migraine has always been viewed as a woman’s disease and there’s a stigma attached to it. It’s not really bad, it’s just a headache. Get over it. You know, deal with life. It’s like the Victorian fainting lady who can’t deal with the stress of dealing with the maids, okay? And so she lays in the bed. That’s ridiculous. There are still some people who think that, and people are oftentimes ashamed to admit they have migraines. That’s ridiculous. It is one of the most debilitating diseases. The World Health Organization did a study, and it’s second in terms of debilitation only after lower back pain. Among the neurological disorders, it’s as debilitating as quadriplegia. So not paraplegia, quadriplegia, loss of all four limbs. So it is a severe disorder, very bad. And the exciting thing for me is that we have a way to treat people and we’re helping people for the first time. This is the first drug that was actually developed targeted for migraine. And now we have more coming down the pipeline, as I said. So exciting for the basic neuroscientist in me and exciting because it gives you a warm feeling that we’re helping people.
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