King’s Professor elected to prestigious fellowship

11 May 2022 - Professor Peter Goadsby has been elected by the Royal Society

Professor Peter Goadsby, consultant neurologist at King’s College Hospital and director of the Trust’s NIHR-funded Clinical Research Facility (CRF), has been elected by the Royal Society to its respected Fellowship – made up of eminent scientists from across the world.

Each year up to 52 Fellows and up to 10 Foreign Members are elected from around 800 candidates and recognised for their exceptional contributions to science and medicine.

In a career that has spanned four decades, Professor Goadsby is one of the world’s leading researchers exploring the science behind migraine and cluster headaches, which are excruciating attacks of pain in one side of the head.

Alongside his role at King’s, Professor Goadsby is also the Theme lead for Pain at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre and Professor of Neurology in the School of Neuroscience at King’s College London.

He has continually sought to understand the brain mechanisms behind migraine with the aim of taking research from discovery through to patient impact.

Professor Goadsby and his team recently led a study into non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS), which involves a device that stimulates the nerve with electrical impulses. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of nVNS and this has contributed to its approval for treatment in the UK and the US.

Last year, Professor Goadsby was one of a group of four scientists awarded the Brain Prize – one of the world’s most prestigious awards in neuroscience – in recognition of his pioneering research that led to the development of entirely new and effective classes of migraine treatments.

Professor Goadsby, Consultant Neurologist at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is an amazing honour that has only happened with the help of many patients, collaborators, colleagues and students with whom I have worked. I am deeply grateful to everyone, and so pleased to be part of headache science coming of age and improving patients’ lives.”

Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society said: “It is an honour to welcome so many outstanding researchers from around the world into the Fellowship of the Royal Society.

“I am also pleased to see so many new Fellows working in areas likely to have a transformative impact on our society. I look forward to seeing what great things they will achieve in the years ahead.”