Michel D. Ferrari (born 15 July 1954) is a Swiss

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

and professor of Neurology at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

and

Leiden University Medical Center Leiden University Medical Center (Dutch: ''Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum'') or LUMC is the university hospital affiliated with Leiden University, of which it forms the medical faculty. It is located in Leiden, Netherlands. LUMC is a modern un ...

. He was a winner of the 2009

Spinoza Prize The Spinoza Prize ( nl, Spinozapremie) is an annual award of 2.5 million euro, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher ...

. He is considered to be the foremost

migraine Migraine (, ) is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches. Typically, the associated headache affects one side of the head, is pulsating in nature, may be moderate to severe in intensity, and could last from a few hou ...

expert of the Netherlands, as well as one of the six top scientist in the field worldwide.

Career

Ferrari was born on 15 July 1954 in Tandjong Pandan, Indonesia. He studied medicine at

and gained a degree in 1980. He obtained a doctorate cum laude from the same university in 1992. Ferrari was appointed as professor of neurology at Leiden in 2002, he still works as practising neurologist in the university hospital. Apart from his work at the University Ferrari also served as president of the

International Headache Society The International Headache Society (IHS) is a London-based charity membership organisation that was founded in 1981 for those with a professional commitment to helping people affected by headache disorders and facial pains. In 1994, the IHS was ...

. In 1996 a research group under his guidance found the first

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

s related to migraines. His paper describing the discovery is the highest cited in the field. Between 1996 and 2009 Ferrari and his research groups managed to track four further genes involved in migraines. In 2009 he was one of three winners of the Dutch

and received a 2.5 million euro grant. The awarding organisation, the

Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research The Dutch Research Council (NWO, Dutch: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) is the national research council of the Netherlands. NWO funds thousands of top researchers at universities and institutes and steers the course o ...

(NWO), praised Ferrari for being the first to discover the genes related to migraine, as well as developing drugs to treat migraine attacks. The NWO also applauded Ferrari's work as ambassador for people suffering from migraine. The NWO named Ferrari one of the six "Headache Masters". Shortly after winning the prize Ferrari stated to want to spend the money on research on

glia cells Glia, also called glial cells (gliocytes) or neuroglia, are non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system that do not produce electrical impulses. They maintain homeostasis, form mye ...

. As there was no fourth Spinoza Prize awarded in 2009, Ferrari and his co-winners

Albert van den Berg Philippus Albertus van den Berg (born 26 January 1974) is a South African former professional rugby union rugby player. His usual position was at lock. He played for the Sharks in the international Super 14 competition. He has also played for ...

and

Marten Scheffer Marten Scheffer (born 13 September 1958) is a Dutch ecologist, mathematical biologist and professor of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management at Wageningen University and Research Centre. He was a winner of the 2009 Spinoza Prize. His resea ...

asked the NWO to reward them the remaining prize money, which they would spend on a collaborative research effort. Their efforts culminated in a research paper on

published in '' PLOS ONE'' in 2013. The paper claimed that a critical tipping point of neurons started a migraine attack.

Publications

* ''Alles over hoofdpijn en aangezichtspijn'', 1997, together with Joost Haan.

References

External links

Profile at Leiden University Medical Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrari, Michel 1954 births Living people Leiden University alumni Academic staff of Leiden University Swiss neurologists People from Belitung Regency Spinoza Prize winners Swiss neuroscientists