Announcing our ACT Now Superstars of 2023

Miles for Migraine just completed its third advocacy training program for fellows and patients across the country called ACT Now resulting in some superstars. ACT is an acronym for advocacy connection team. The training covers various topics associated with advocacy for doctors, patients, and caregivers. These participants go through a 9-month training program with monthly virtual meetings.  They learn and discuss how advocacy can change the stigma and lives of people living with migraine and headache disorders. At the end of the training, participants are asked to do an ACT of advocacy.

Who are our Fellows?

A headache fellowship program is a year-long program specialized in training doctors about migraine and headache disorders. Miles for Migraine helps fund fellowship programs with donations from the walk/run/relax events. It is their way of helping to alleviate the doctor shortage in this field. It helps to support more doctors who can specialize in treating migraine and headache disorders. This can lead to better care and outcomes for patients. 

Along with donating to these headache centers, Miles for Migraine helps train the fellows in these cities in advocacy. The program creates a supportive community for patients and fellows in a participatory way that teaches advocacy should be part of everyone’s treatment plan.

Who are our Patients?

Anyone is free to join if you are interested in learning about migraine and headache disorder advocacy. The next cohort starts in August 2023. If you miss the registration, please join our waiting list for next time. This is an ongoing program.

Superstars-Patients

And now it’s time to brag about some of our superstar graduates from 2023. 

Doug Kane is a super fundraiser in Philadelphia. Doug built a big team with his family and his social media community. He made fundraising fun with a big outcome. His team was given the Team Spirit Award and raised over $17,000.

Sharon Rhoades is a superstar in many ways. She is a support group leader for Miles for Migraine and a long-time volunteer. She had a letter published in the local paper about Headache on the Hill and can be seen volunteering at Retreat Migraine. Her time is spent supporting and building the migraine and headache community at large.

Dr. Suraj Malhan wrote his advocacy story about how he’s making a difference, one patient at a time. His passion for raising public awareness of migraine diseases and pushing for more research and healthcare funding makes him a superstar.

Lori Oppenheimer is a volunteer, advocating year-round. She is an instrumental member of the editing team preparing for the launch of the Dear Migraine book. She uses her communication skills by calling and connecting with past participants to strengthen the community. Lori is always willing to help and is a superstar volunteer. 

Superstars-Fellows

Dr. Chris Anderson is an example of how to go the extra mile with fundraising/sponsorship. For the Phoenix walk/run/relax, he raised $754 and was part of the planning committee. Chris was the team leader at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale Headache Center and raised $2,261. Chris Anderson took the initiative to approach his hospital’s community outreach program to secure a $5K event sponsorship. He is a superstar at coordinating. They had 46 people sign up and join their team. 

Dr. Nathalia Figueredo and Mitra Haeri are Philadelphia fellows that are following the last cohort’s steps by giving back to their community. These doctors have created ER  patient comfort kits to aid in the pain and stresses of going to the emergency room. They are currently taking data on the results and giving their kits to people who are presenting with migraine and headache disorders at Jefferson Hospitals.

Dr. Matt Bloch is currently working with Dr. Young on a test on implicit bias and migraine. They have IRB approval and are currently collecting data. They aim to put together an abstract for publication.

Dr. Ishani Kumar completed clinical updates on migraine management and navigating the migraine smartset/dot-phrase. This feature allows healthcare providers to quickly insert pre-written text into patient notes which can save time and reduce errors.

Graphics

A team of fellows and patients are collaborating on making migraine more visible through graphics. They are creating a way to see the phases of migraine and the mountain of symptoms it climbs. The collaboration will depict the many phases and symptoms of migraine.

Thank you to our graphic superstars:

Dr. Risako Shirane- Hartford Yale

Dr. Dana Ionel- Kentucky

Dr. Sudipa Biswas- Cleveland

Dr. Elise Hennessey- Cleveland

Yuri Cardenas- patient

Dr. Shayna Sanguinetti- NYU Langone

Dr. Rachel Evans- Phoenix

Speakers at walk/run/relax Events

The walk/run/relax events aim to fundraise, educate, inspire, and connect people. They begin with speakers from providers and patients telling their stories.  If you want to participate in a local walk/run/relax event, please join us in person or virtually.

Thank you to the fellows who spoke at these events:

Mirabella Macias (patient), Dallas

Dr. Elise Hennessey, Cleveland 

Dr. Sudipa Biswas, Cleveland

Dr. Elizabeth Ackley Denver

Dr. Minal Patel, D.C.

Dr. Harshika Satyarthi, San Francisco

Dr. Tahoora Sadoughi, LA

Dr. Maksym Marek, LA

Dr. Chris Anderson, Phoenix

Superstars ACTS of Advocacy

We want to give a big thank you to all of the ACT Now graduates and our superstars. Your continued ACTS of advocacy last well beyond this program. 

If you’d like to join our ACT Now: fellows and patient advocacy training program, sign up now and we will be in contact in August 🙂