I have really enjoyed my first two years on the EHF board and it is great to be part of a group of enthusiastic people all striving to help improve the life of people with headache.
Dr Philip Holland, Reader in Neuroscience.
06 February 2026
Dr Philip Holland appointed president-elect of the European Headache Federation
Dr Philip Holland, Reader in Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, has been elected as the future president of the European Headache Federation (EHF). He will begin his term as president in December 2027, after two years of serving as the president-elect. He will be the second scientist to be appointed president and the second British president.
His appointment follows two years serving as a board member for the EHF and involvement in the scientific committee for the 2024 and 2025 annual congresses. Dr Holland is also a faculty member for the EHF School of Advanced Science.
The European Headache Federation is a non-profit organisation that aims to improve the lives of people affected by headaches. It seeks to promote headache research, education and to increase awareness of headache disorders. The foundation is involved in teaching doctors, neurologists, carers and general practitioners about resources available to manage headache disorders.
At King’s, Dr Holland’s research focuses on understanding how migraines and other primary headaches start and give rise to the wealth of symptoms seen in patients. Migraine is a highly prevalent, extremely disabling disorder, whose mechanisms are not fully understood at a biological level. Dr Holland’s research aims to discover the underlying biological causes of migraine initiation, frequency and severity, with the long-term aim of using these discoveries to facilitate treatment development.
Dr Holland hopes to use his presidency to foster UK-EU scientific interactions and to push for greater awareness around headaches and headache research.
“I am looking forward to helping to steer the federation forward and continuing to work with continuing and new board members. UK science has been impacted significantly by Brexit, including the initial loss of Horizon Europe funding and reduced international collaborations," commented Dr Holland.
In addition to continuing to lobby for greater headache awareness, I would like to use my presidency to help rebuild UK-European collaboration on headache research, and also to support the British Association for the Study of Headache, who originally nominated me to join the EHF board.
Dr Philip Holland, Reader in Neuroscience.
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Reader in Neuroscience