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Emmanuelle Schindler, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor
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Additional Titles

Medical Director, Headache Center of Excellence, VA Connecticut Healthcare System

About

Titles

Assistant Professor

Positions outside Yale

Medical Director, Headache Center of Excellence, VA Connecticut Healthcare System

Biography

Among my efforts to optimize the management of headache disorders, I have developed and executed the first controlled trials investigating the effects and mechanisms of action of psilocybin in cluster, migraine, and post-traumatic headache. Previously, I studied the neuropharmacology of psychedelics and other serotonergic compounds in the context of receptor binding and intracellular signaling. Currently, I’m seeking to identify the source of sustained reductions in headache burden after limited dosing of psychedelic and related compounds, considering several neurobiological systems involved in both headache pathology and the known actions of psychedelic compounds.

Another endeavor of mine is to enhance the understanding of and improve the lives of patients with cluster headache, a severely painful headache disorder also known as “suicide headache.” Recognition and proper management of this condition is woefully lacking. While novel therapies are finally emerging, further research is desperately needed. In addition to better treatments, basic gold-standard therapies, such as inhaled oxygen, remain out of reach for many patients. Education on many levels, including federal regulatory bodies, is required to best serve this patient population that itself has demonstrated immense resilience and optimism in the face of their disease.

Appointments

Education & Training

Advanced Research Fellow
VA Connecticut Healthcare System (2018)
Resident
Yale School of Medicine (2016)
MD
Drexel University College of Medicine (2012)
PhD
Drexel University College of Medicine, Neuroscience (2010)
BS
College of William & Mary, Biological Psychiatry (2003)

Research

Overview

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Cluster Headache; Migraine Disorders; Post-Traumatic Headache

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Emmanuelle Schindler's published research.

Publications

2024

2023

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    American Academy of Neurology

  • activity

    American Headache Society

  • activity

    International Headache Society

  • activity

    International Society for Research on Psychedelics

  • honor

    Kindness Award

Clinical Care

Overview

Emmanuelle Schindler, MD, PhD, is a neurologist focused on the management of headache disorders, with a particular interest in cluster headache.

“The pain associated with cluster headache is rated higher than other painful states, such as childbirth or passing a kidney stone,” Dr. Schindler says. “And the headaches themselves can happen multiple times a day, nonstop for years on end, which makes it an important headache to manage and improve treatment for.”

Unfortunately, people with cluster headache are often misdiagnosed as having another headache disorder, such as migraine or sinus headache, and treatments they have tried are not effective, Dr. Schindler adds.

One of the best parts of her job, Dr. Schindler says, is bringing headache patients relief from pain. “If you help lower a patient’s blood pressure or blood sugar, they might not thank you because it meant they had to stop eating their favorite foods, for example,” she says. “But even if I reduce a patient’s number of headaches by 25% to 30%, they are extremely grateful because it makes a huge difference in their life and allows them to get back to work or return to social activities instead of isolating themselves.”

An active researcher, she is exploring how limited dosing of psilocybin (a psychedelic that comes from so-called “magic mushrooms”) can help in the management of cluster, migraine, and post-traumatic headache (those that occur within days of a head injury).

Her research provides even more promise for better treatments for her patients. “It’s exciting to be studying a completely new way of treating headache disorders. I want to help those for whom existing treatments aren’t quite working for them,” Dr. Schindler says.

Clinical Specialties

Neurology

Board Certifications

  • Neurology

    Certification Organization
    AB of Psychiatry & Neurology
  • Headache Medicine

    Certification Organization
    United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties

Get In Touch

Contacts

Locations

  • Patient Care Locations

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