Rate My Professor Peter Goadsby

Professor Peter Goadsby, holding degrees of MBBS (1985), PhD (1983), MD (1990), and DSc (1996) from the University of New South Wales, along with professional qualifications FRACP, FRCP, FMedSci, and FRS, is Professor of Neurology in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. He directs the NIHR King’s Clinical Research Facility, serves as National Lead for Neurological Disorders in the NIHR Clinical Research Network UK, leads the Pain and Addictions theme in the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, acts as Trustee of the Organisation for the Understanding of Cluster Headache (OUCH UK), and chairs the Scientific Programme Committee of the Migraine Trust International Symposium. Goadsby maintains an active bedside practice as Honorary Consultant Neurologist at King’s College Hospital.

His principal research interests center on the basic mechanisms of primary headache disorders, such as migraine and cluster headache, investigated in both experimental and clinical contexts to inform superior management approaches. He pioneered the identification of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) as a key neurotransmitter in these disorders, translating this discovery through clinical trials that resulted in the licensing of CGRP pathway monoclonal antibodies and receptor antagonists across Europe, the United States, and other regions. Employing functional neuroimaging, Goadsby has outlined the neuroanatomy of headache disorders, created bench models to examine neuropeptides and classical neurotransmitters, and evaluated neuromodulation treatments. His scholarly contributions exceed 22,500 citations. Landmark publications include 'Vasoactive peptide release in the extracerebral circulation of humans during migraine headache' (Annals of Neurology, 1990), 'Correlation between structural and functional changes in brain in an idiopathic headache syndrome' (Nature Medicine, 1999), and 'A controlled trial of erenumab for episodic migraine' (New England Journal of Medicine, 2017). Recent works feature 'Migraine: advances in treatment' (Trends in Molecular Medicine, 2025). Major honors encompass the Brain Prize from the Lundbeck Foundation (2021), election as Fellow of the Royal Society (2022), and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2016).