Interest in headache began to grow in the late '60s when Prof. G. Nappi founded the Centro Cefalee e Circolazione Encefalica ("Centre for the Study of Headache and Cerebral Circulation") operating at the "C. Mondino Institute of Neurology" Foundation in Pavia.
The increasing interest in and activities surrounding headache disorders, made it necessary to separate the clinical activity from the advanced research activity. Since 2000, the clinical activity has been carried out at the Pavia Headache Centre operating at the C. Mondino Institute, while the research activity is coordinated by the University Consortium for Adaptive Disorders and Headache (UCADH), which was created in 1988. UCADH was initially made up of four sections from three Italian Universities (Pavia, Modena and Parma). The constant increase of research activities and interest in the headache field has led to the expansion of UCADH, too, which now numbers thirteen sections coming from a total of nine Italian universities.
In 2000, the Pavia Headache Centre became an accredited Regional Referral Centre for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Headache. In recognition of the value and continuity of its clinical research activity, the Pavia centre was, in the early 1990s, acknowledged by the American Academy of Neurology as a "Centre of Excellence".
The Pavia Headache Centre is part of the Italian Headache Network and is the headquarters of the Italian Headache Association, Alleanza Cefalalgici (Al.Ce.-CIRNA Foundation). Since 1999, Al.Ce has been a member of the World Headache Alliance and of the European Headache Alliance, both groups made up of patients and physicians working together to improve the quality of care and information provided to headache patients and their families.