For quite some time, Dr. Fred Sheftell has been one of the shining stars in the Migraine and headache world and in my life. When I signed the contract to write Living Well with Migraine Disease and Headaches for HarperCollins, he quickly offered to write the forward. From then on, he called it, "our book." When I started attending American Headache Society meetings, he encouraged me to write down questions about things I didn't understand, and he was one of the first to offer to explain them to me. Between meetings, he made himself available by telephone or email to answer questions, give interviews, offer encouragement, and continually challenge me to keep learning. In this photo, that's Dr. Sheftell on the right and Dr. John Claude Krusz on the left.

I'm sad to report that Dr. Sheftell died this week after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Dr. Sheftell was a much loved husband and father. During his long and distinguished career, he wore many hats:

• Migraine and headache specialist
• co-founder of the New England Center for Headache
• author - 11 books and more than 200 peer-reviewed articles
• researcher
• founder of the World Headache Alliance
• past president of the World Headache Alliance
• chairman of Ache, the American Headache Society's Committee for Headache Education
• member of the Migraine Research Foundation's Advisory Board

Something not everyone knew about Dr. Sheftell is that he was also a musician. He combined his musical talent with his passion for treating Migraine and headache patients to make continuing medical education CD, Migraine Blues. Eventually, individual songs from the CD made their way to YouTube and iTunes. Here's one of them...

If you knew Dr. Sheftell and want to do something in his memory, his family has asked that donations be made to the American Migraine Foundation.

Live well,

Get the latest Migraine and headache news, informational articles, tips for living well, and more in my free weekly newsletter. To subscribe, CLICK HERE.

Follow me on    or 

© Teri Robert, 2011.
Last updated April 14, 2011.