Palatucci Advocate Success Stories

"Through effective advocacy, we can leverage the efforts of a limited number of motivated individuals towards a goal that will positively impact a tremendous number of patients. Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum training provided us with crucial tools and networks to launch our initiative successfully."

—Robert E. Shapiro, MD, PhD

Advocate's History

Collaborating with fellow Forum graduate and headache researcher Kathy Gardner, MD, Shapiro spearheaded the first Headache on the Hill campaign to call for stronger support for headache and migraine research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Forty-five physicians, researchers, and patient advocates went to Washington, DC, in September 2007 and visited 137 Congressional offices representing 29 states. Participants urged an increase in research funding and a separate grant review process within the NIH to evaluate research proposals on headache disorders. To anchor the event, Shapiro built a coalition including the AAN, American Headache Society, World Health Organization, National Headache Foundation, European Brain Council, World Headache Alliance, MAGNUM/National Migraine Association, Headache Cooperative of New England, Migraine Research Foundation, European Headache Federation Migraine Trust, and the British Association for the Study of Headache. He also co-founded a national organization for ongoing advocacy of headache disorders: the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy (AHDA). The AHDA is currently organizing a web-based grassroots initiative directed towards legislative advocacy and also has plans to work with federal programs such as the Office of Women's Health and the Veteran Affairs Administration.

In recognition of his outstanding efforts, Shapiro was selected as a 2007 Palatucci Advocate of the Year.