Mastering Migraine: Your Essential Toolkit for Relief

Welcome to the Mastering Migraine: Your Essential Toolkit for Relief with Miles for Migraine event! Join us at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia for a few hours of powerful, community-based day of learning, connection, and empowerment. This event is designed to equip you with knowledge, tools, and support to better understand and manage migraine.

Gain valuable insights from three esteemed experts in the field:

Dr. William Young and Katelyn Jesukiewicz will take us through the importance of developing a migraine toolkit and what should be included. They will explore the latest advancements in migraine treatment, from cutting-edge medications to breakthrough devices—and what’s on the horizon. See more detail in the agenda below.
Dr. Susan McCrea will speak on Pain Science and strategies for coping with pain, including Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), The Gateway Theory of Pain and Neuromatrix Theory of Pain approaches.

Dr. Greg Amatrudo will dive into the connection between sleep and migraine. He'll speak on sleep disorders, strategies for better regulating your sleep and approaches addressing migraine and chronic pain through improved sleep management.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect, and take charge of your health. The event will include presentations, Q&A with our panelists, in-person connection with others living with migraine as well as lunch. Register today!

NOTE: We do charge a $10 registration fee to reserve your lunch/attendance. This will be refunded to you, in cash, at check in the day of the event.

Speaker Bios:

Dr. Susan McCrea is a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in headache and pain psychology. She helps patients develop tools to better manage stress and chronic pain using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectic Behavior Therapy for Pain (DBT for Pain). She also integrates complementary techniques such as biofeedback, self-regulation, relaxation, mindfulness-based stress reduction, and self psychology.

Dr. William Young is a neurologist at the Jefferson Headache Center. He received his medical degree from Penn State College of Medicine and has been in practice for 30 years. The Jefferson Headache Center is one of a very few academic headache centers in the country. The Center, founded in 1982, specializes in the treatment of patients with all types of headache pain. Dr. Young is the President of Miles for Migraine, and former president of the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy. Click for detailed information pertaining to Dr. Young’s extensive research profile, including research pertaining to migraine and stigma.

Dr. Gregory Amatrudo, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and expert in behavioral sleep medicine, specializing in the intersection of sleep, headache, and mental health. Currently, Dr. Amatrudo works at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital's Headache Center and provides consultation, treatment and training at Thomas Jefferson Sleep Center. His innovative two-pronged approach integrates behavioral sleep medicine techniques with pain psychology to address the bidirectional relationship between sleep dysfunction and chronic headaches.

Dr. Amatrudo is passionate about understanding how sleep disturbances exacerbate headache and migraine disorders and impact mental health conditions like anxiety, depression and trauma. He employs evidence-based treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), chronotherapy, and light therapies to help patients regulate their sleep patterns, reduce headache frequency, and improve overall functioning.

Katelyn Jesukiewicz is a licensed nurse practitioner at the Jefferson Headache Center. She received her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Jefferson College of Nursing. She has been practicing as a Nurse Practitioner with the Headache Center since 2018. The Jefferson Headache Center is one of a very few academic headache centers in the country. The Center, founded in 1982, specializes in the treatment of patients with all types of headache pain.

Shirley Kessel is the Executive Director of Miles for Migraine and the mom of three daughters, two of whom live with migraine. When her youngest daughter Sydney became diagnosed at an early age, they both decided that it was time to take action to bring awareness and raise money for migraine research. They contacted Eileen Jones, who founded the Miles for Migraine race in San Francisco, and brought the race to the Philadelphia community in 2013. She became the Executive Director in 2017 when it became apparent that Miles for Migraine should take the race series around the USA.

Shirley has worked in healthcare since 1983 and has served on various non-profit boards since 1991. She won’t retire until a cure is found for this disabling disease.