{"id":4054,"date":"2026-10-16T15:49:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T15:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/?p=4054"},"modified":"2026-10-16T15:49:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T15:49:16","slug":"the-reason-behind-the-research-lived-experience-meets-scientific-expertise-at-the-migraine-trust-international-symposium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/?p=4054","title":{"rendered":"The reason behind the research: lived experience meets scientific expertise at The Migraine Trust International Symposium"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Research begins with questions, and often those questions arise from observing the world around us. But some of the most important questions emerge when we step outside the laboratory and listen to the people whose lives our research aims to improve. Meeting people with different experiences and perspectives can challenge our assumption and encourage us to look more deeply at the questions we ask as researchers. The Migraine Trust International Symposium (MTIS)<\/a>, the world\u2019s longest established headache conference, and adjacent patient day provided an invaluable opportunity for these conversations by bringing together researchers and people living with migraine in a patient-focused environment.<\/p>\n

A reminder of the \u2018why\u2019 behind my research<\/h3>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

As a PhD student still relatively new to the field, attending MTIS was an exciting opportunity to broaden my understanding and reflect on my place within a community of people living with migraine, their families, advocates and fellow researchers. It was also lovely to be able to visit Scotland for the first time. The conference was hosted in Glasgow where I got to experience some of the infamous Scottish rain (which certainly lived up to its reputation), do some sightseeing at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, and, unexpectedly, stumble upon filming for the upcoming Batman movie. I also managed a detour via Edinburgh on the way back to London where I (just about!) made the climb up to Arthur\u2019s seat on my supervisor\u2019s recommendation. He did, however, neglect to mention the strong Scottish winds, so consider this your warning!<\/p>\n

The three-day conference brought together researchers from across the globe to share their work. The conference also hosted teaching courses focused on educating participants on headache disorder diagnosis and migraine management in primary healthcare. \u00a0It was encouraging to see research addressing questions that matter to people living with migraine, from improving quality of life and reducing the burden of attacks to raising awareness and helping others better understand the realities of living with the condition. It was a reminder of the breadth of work being undertaken and the different ways research can contribute to improving people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

\u2018Looking beyond the science and remembering the people that give our research its purpose.\u2019<\/h3>\n

The patient day was particularly impactful. Dr Philip Holland and I were thankful to be among the presenters speaking at the event, where we had the opportunity to share some of our research focuses. But hearing first-hand accounts of living with migraine from the attendees highlighted the varied ways the condition can affect everyday life, not only for those experiencing it but also for their families. Listening to these experiences offered a perspective that research papers alone cannot fully capture. It reinforced the importance of looking beyond the science and remembering the people, experiences and unanswered questions that give our research its purpose.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

I left the conference and patient day feeling inspired and motivated to continue pursuing research that can make a meaningful difference. As researchers, we have a responsibility to ensure that the voices of people living with migraine<\/p>\n

are heard and reflected in the work we do. By listening to lived experiences and allowing them to inform our research, we can ask more relevant questions and work towards outcomes that matter to the people our research aims to support.<\/p>\n\n

Bringing the community together: building connections, challenging perspectives and finding inspiration<\/h3>\n

Events like MTIS and the patient day are vital in bringing this community together. For people living with migraine and their families, I hope the patient day offered a sense of connection and reassurance that their experiences matter and that their questions are an important part of the research conversation. And for researchers, I hope the conference provided opportunities to build connections, challenge perspectives and find inspiration for future work. Sharing experiences helps keep patient voices at the forefront of research. It reminds us why our work matters and strengthens our shared commitment to a future where research makes a meaningful difference to the lives of people living with migraine.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research begins with questions, and often those questions arise from observing the world around us. But some of the most important questions emerge when we step outside the laboratory and listen to the people whose lives our research aims to improve. Meeting people with different experiences and perspectives can challenge our assumption and encourage us to look more deeply at the questions we ask as researchers. The Migraine Trust International Symposium (MTIS), the world\u2019s longest established headache conference, and adjacent patient day provided an invaluable opportunity for these conversations by bringing together researchers and people living with migraine in a patient-focused environment. A reminder of the \u2018why\u2019 behind my research As a PhD student still relatively new to the field, attending MTIS was an exciting opportunity to broaden my understanding and reflect on my place within a community of people living with migraine, their families, advocates and fellow researchers. It was also lovely to be able to visit Scotland for the first time. The conference was hosted in Glasgow where I got to experience some of the infamous Scottish rain (which certainly lived up to its reputation), do some sightseeing at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, and, unexpectedly, stumble upon filming for the upcoming Batman movie. I also managed a detour via Edinburgh on the way back to London where I (just about!) made the climb up to Arthur\u2019s seat on my supervisor\u2019s recommendation. He did, however, neglect to mention the strong Scottish winds, so consider this your warning! The three-day conference brought together researchers from across the globe to share their work. The conference also hosted teaching courses focused on educating participants on headache disorder diagnosis and migraine management in primary healthcare. \u00a0It was encouraging to see research addressing questions that matter to people living with migraine, from improving quality of life and reducing the burden of attacks to raising awareness and helping others better understand the realities of living with the condition. It was a reminder of the breadth of work being undertaken and the different ways research can contribute to improving people\u2019s lives. \u2018Looking beyond the science and remembering the people that give our research its purpose.\u2019 The patient day was particularly impactful. Dr Philip Holland and I were thankful to be among the presenters speaking at the event, where we had the opportunity to share some of our research focuses. But hearing first-hand accounts of living with migraine from the attendees highlighted the varied ways the condition can affect everyday life, not only for those experiencing it but also for their families. Listening to these experiences offered a perspective that research papers alone cannot fully capture. It reinforced the importance of looking beyond the science and remembering the people, experiences and unanswered questions that give our research its purpose. I left the conference and patient day feeling inspired and motivated to continue pursuing research that can make a meaningful difference. As researchers, we have a responsibility to ensure that the voices of people living with migraine are heard and reflected in the work we do. By listening to lived experiences and allowing them to inform our research, we can ask more relevant questions and work towards outcomes that matter to the people our research aims to support. Bringing the community together: building connections, challenging perspectives and finding inspiration Events like MTIS and the patient day are vital in bringing this community together. For people living with migraine and their families, I hope the patient day offered a sense of connection and reassurance that their experiences matter and that their questions are an important part of the research conversation. And for researchers, I hope the conference provided opportunities to build connections, challenge perspectives and find inspiration for future work. Sharing experiences helps keep patient voices at the forefront of research. It reminds us why our work matters and strengthens our shared commitment to a future where research makes a meaningful difference to the lives of people living with migraine. \u00a0 Source link<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-migraine-headache"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}