“It is my goal to ensure that no person living with migraine is alone in the dark.”
In a recent Facebook Live, our new director Nim Lalvani introduced herself to the migraine community. If you missed our Facebook Live, watch the recording below or read on to learn more about Lalvani’s personal connection to migraine and her plans for the Foundation.
https://www.facebook.com/americanmigrainefoundation/videos/290329171553466/
In the short time that Lalvani has worked at AMF, she’s been impressed by the strong and vibrant community of doctors, patients and advocates.
Lalvani’s background is in public health, and she has dedicated her career to patient engagement. She has worked in the nonprofit and patient advocacy spaces for more than 12 years, helping patients at both the national and international level. “I’ve specifically focused my career on designing and providing the rights tools and resources for patients at the times that they need it most,” she shared, adding that her goal is to amplify patients’ voices in research and therapeutic development.
Migraine is Personal
Lalvani previously worked in organizations dedicated to diabetes, breast cancer and kidney disease, but strongly identifies with our community because she is living with migraine. She recalls first getting what she thought were terribly debilitating headaches when she was 18.
“I had no idea what a migraine was,” she said, “and I never saw anyone around me have a migraine, so I had no idea what I was dealing with, and no one else around me knew what I was dealing with.”
Lalvani is excited to see the progress that’s been made recently in migraine care and the tremendous effort that AMF has put forth in helping advance research to produce therapies at a faster rate. As you know, the mission for AMF is to drive and support impactful research that translates into treatment advances as well as mobilize the community for patient support and advocacy.
The Move Against Migraine
In her talk, Lalvani expressed her intent to drive AMF’s mission forward by leveraging the expertise of the American Headache Society and incorporating more patient voices. The Move Against Migraine support community is essential to that goal, and AMF strives to be a trusted partner for support, resources and credible information for everyone in the community.
The Move Against Migraine campaign was launched to raise awareness of migraine, but that’s only the beginning. Lalvani pointed to AMF’s advocacy and community-building efforts, specifically the response to Elle’s “Migraine Pose” article and robust partnership program. Whatever the platform and audience, AMF works to ensure the patient voice is always included and heard.
Lalvani concluded her talk by stressing that patients have an important role to play as “drivers of change” and encouraged listeners to continue connecting with AMF.
Check out our full library of Facebook Live recaps with some of the leading headache specialists and patient advocates in the country, and visit our resource library for more information on how you can better advocate for yourself and the migraine community.
