I am applying today for the Member-at-Large position on the Southern Headache Society because I would like to contribute meaningfully to its already high standard of regional education, networking, and continued growth. I have trained and worked alongside many of the current members and leaders of the Society, and a chance to be more involved with them and to become more familiar with others would be both professionally rewarding and personally meaningful.

From a personal perspective, I have been involved in the headache field dating back to my neurology residency at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital from 2015 to 2018, where my experience with outstanding headache specialists helped me determine this was my career path. I subsequently completed a headache fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in 2019 and became UCNS-certified in Headache Medicine in 2020. Currently, I am a faculty member at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System where I serve as the Neurology Ambulatory Medical Director for our department and see headache patients in our outpatient clinics. I work with a variety of learners, including undergraduates, medical students, other health professional students, and residents on a regular basis, and I enjoy introducing trainees to the field of headache medicine. I have been very happy to see a growing number of our neurology residents deciding to pursue and complete headache fellowship training.

I’ve been a member of SHS since 2022 and have been fortunate enough to attend the 2024 and 2025 annual meeting since joining, where I have been able to network with regional providers, pharmaceutical companies and catch up with great current and prior colleagues. While I certainly enjoy our national headache societies as well, having regional connections with providers who face many of the same clinical and practice-level challenges is particularly meaningful and beneficial for getting advice on how to address them. Additionally, the ongoing SHS listserv is a great source of information, and I have often searched through my inbox to find prior discussions that directly informed questions arising in my own practice.

This year, I have also had the honor of serving as the Virginia State Liaison for SHS, helping to increase awareness of the Society among providers caring for headache patients across the state, and I hope to continue this work. In my role as Neurology Ambulatory Medical Director, I have gained experience with clinical operations, program development, and collaborative decision-making, which I believe would be valuable in contributing effectively as a Board member. I believe there are significant opportunities for growth, particularly through outreach to primary care providers, who often serve as the front line of headache care and could benefit greatly from the education, resources, and community that SHS provides. If elected to the Board, my goals include strengthening practice-relevant education, expanding engagement with primary care providers, APPs, and early-career clinicians, and enhancing state-level collaboration across the region. I am particularly interested in the Education Committee and State Liaison activities, and would also be happy to support Communications initiatives that help expand the reach and impact of SHS programming.

My CV