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MELLBY GÅRD IN SOCIETY – RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
WORLD’S FIRST RESEARCH CENTER
FOR CLUSTER HEADACHES
In early 2023 the Mellby Gård Foundation and Karolinska
Institutet (KI) launched the world’s first research center for
cluster headaches, which are also known as Horton’s cephalalgia.
The Foundation donated SEK 34.3 million to KI to fund the research
for the next seven years. Andrea Carmine Belin, Associate Professor
and Senior Researcher at KI and her research team will form the basis
of the research center.
“We’ve been researching cluster headaches for years, but it’s still
an illness that’s unknown to the general public,” she says. “Although
it was described as early as the 1700s, there’s been relatively little
research into it. Currently there’s no cure, and available treatments
have a limited effect on cluster headaches. There’s also a lack of
knowledge about their underlying causes.”
Cluster headaches are said to be the most painful thing a person can personalized according to genetic predisposition.
experience and have also been called ‘suicide headaches’. A 2020 study
in Texas ranked cluster headaches higher than gunshot wounds, kidney
stones and childbirth on a pain scale. Between 3–7 million people
worldwide suffer from cluster headaches. Men are the most affected,
but the headaches also occur in women. Cluster headaches appear in
recurring attacks that last between 15 minutes and up to three hours.
Attacks can occur several times a day. About 90 percent of sufferers
have an episodic form, meaning that they are symptom-free for up to
three months between attacks. Others are affected by a chronic variant
without any prolonged periods when the sufferer is symptom-free.
“General knowledge of the illness is poor, and more attention needs
to be paid to it to raise the level of understanding and awareness,”
says Andrea Carmine Belin. “In medical education, headaches form
only a small part of the curriculum. As a result, there is a lack of
awareness of the illness even among healthcare professionals, which
means that it can take up to ten years to get a diagnosis. That’s why
our research is so incredibly important.”
CHALMERS MASTER TEACHER PROJECT
AIMS TO ADDRESS THE TEACHER SHORTAGE
Since 2011, Chalmers University of Technology has been working
to reduce the current shortage of teachers through the
‘Learning and Leadership’ master’s program. Its ambition is to
train 30 new teachers each year. In order for the program to maintain
the same high quality and high standard as Chalmers’ engineering
programs, they have chosen to focus in particular on the ‘Master
Teacher’ project.
Master teachers are active upper secondary school teachers who
work part-time within Chalmers teacher training program for three
years. Together with Chalmers’ skilled teaching staff, they cover
an extremely important component of teacher training – that of
supplementing theoretical knowledge with practical. Master teachers
provide an additional perspective based on their practical experience
and give an insight into the day-to-day running of schools.
Philip Gerlee,
head of the ‘Learning and Leadership’ program,
Chalmers University of Technology
Via the Swedish Brain Foundation, Mellby Gård has recurringly
funded cluster headache research for several years.
“The long-term support from Mellby Gård has been crucial for
us in building our biobank,” says Andrea Carmine Belin. “The
latest donation to our research center offers new opportunities
for collaboration and for visibility in the wider world, enabling the
recruitment of the best researchers and investment in new research
projects.”
Research on cluster headaches is also conducted through
international collaborations in order to compare different results.
Commitment to participating in studies is high among patients. The
research team is currently investigating how the illness is affected
by sleep, whether it is hereditary and whether treatments can be
“I can only see opportunities in this project!” says Andrea Carmine
Belin. “The aim is to find effective treatments that improve the quality
of life of those affected by cluster headaches. Both Rune Andersson
and Johan Andersson usually provide intelligent insights, and we
hope that Mellby Gård will continue to support us. But to succeed, we
need more funding to expand the research center internationally and
continue to lead the way in cluster headache research.”
Andrea Carmine Belin,
Associate Professor
and Senior Researcher,
Karolinska Institutet.
The Master Teacher project requires continuous funding for it to
continue, with Mellby Gård having been one of several financiers
since 2017.
“Teachers play an essential role in our society, with their education
laying the foundation for that of many others, which is why our Master
Teacher project is so important,” says Philip Gerlee, head of the
‘Learning and Leadership’ program. “The contribution from Mellby
Gård means a great deal to our project and our activities. The funding
helps ensure that the quality of the training and what it can offer can
remain the same for years to come, and we’re very grateful for that!”
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