UCADH (University Consortium for Adaptive Disorders and Headache) was founded in 1988 as an offshoot and extension of the Centro Cefalee e Circolazione Encefalica which, founded by Prof. Giuseppe Nappi in 1969, had been active at the University of Pavia since the late 1960s. UCADH is the result of the increasing interest in the field of headache in Italy and in the world over the past two decades.
Initially, UCADH was made up of 4 sections from 3 universities (Pavia, Modena I, Parma, Modena II), today it has 11 sections from a total of 9 universities.
The aim of UCADH was to create a multidisciplinary structure that might further the integration of the scientific experience of several Italian groups working in the field of headache and other functional neurological diseases. Advances in technology, with the development of more and more sophisticated techniques, had indeed drawn attention to the need for a close link between various university centres, each equipped with structures and facilities able to deal with a common group of scientific issues, enabling them to adopt a different, multi-integrated approach. From its very beginning, UCADH has acted as a network, pooling some of the best Italian university centres in order to make the best use of human and technological resources. All this with the aim of encouraging experimental and clinical studies in the field of the physiological and pathological adaptation of various body functions to internal/external environmental changes. The Centre's objectives are pursued through a policy of spreading scientific knowledge, organizing conferences and seminars, promoting and co-ordinating the activities of the external investigators who collaborate with the Centre, submitting and implementing projects of basic, applied and goal-oriented research, and supporting and participating in the scientific and research activities of public and/or private institutions.
It has been a period of intense, often febrile, activity. But it has been worth it. Some of the scientific advances promoted directly or indirectly by UCADH will be presented at the International Headache Congress (Rome, September 12-16 2003), others have already been illustrated and discussed on previous occasions and will surely animate scientific meetings in the future. My warm gratitude goes to all those passionate researchers who have helped to make UCADH a reality in the field of neuroscience research.

11 settembre 2003

Prof. Giuseppe Nappi