Being a doctor and treating patients is all I ever wanted to do. In medical school I was fascinated by neurology and intrigued by headache-related diseases. Back then, there was no formal specialty called “headache medicine”—I was one of the first people in the country to do a formal fellowship in the field.
As director of the headache division at NYU Langone, I lead a team of board-certified neurologists and headache specialists—all of whom have completed fellowships in headache medicine. We treat people who have migraines, cluster headaches, trigeminal neuralgia, or other headache-related disorders using a variety of approaches. Although our team uses standard therapies with proven success, we also offer other treatments, such as nerve blocks, Botox®, intravenous infusions, biofeedback, stress management, and acupuncture as needed. Additionally, we have the resources to conduct clinical trials, affording our patients access to the newest therapies before they are widely available.
As someone who experiences chronic migraines and has been misdiagnosed in the past, I know what my patients are going through. People who have been diagnosed incorrectly, have tried medications that didn’t work, or whose lives are often interrupted by chronic headaches can benefit from seeing a board-certified headache specialist. I treat people as if they were my own family members, listening to them and working with them to develop an individualized treatment plan that combines medication and non-pharmacologic therapies with lifestyle changes.
I treat men and women at the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Men’s Health, where I can also refer them to world-class specialists, including internists, cardiologists, endocrinologists, physical therapists, and psychiatrists if needed. We work as a family here—we are all invested in our patients’ care.
I’ve lectured both nationally and internationally on various topics in headache medicine and have trained more than a dozen neurologists in the field. I’m a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the National Headache Foundation, and the International Headache Society, and I’m the former president of the American Headache Society. I’m honored to have received the 2015 Cullman Family Award for Excellence in Physician–Patient Communication, the Leonard L. Lovshin Lectureship Award from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and the John R. Graham Lecture Award from the American Headache Society.
