Dr. Deena Kuruvilla M.D.

Medical Director

Deena E. Kuruvilla, M.D., is a board-certified neurologist and Director of the Brain Health Institute, where she employs a holistic, biopsychosocial approach to the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of neurological conditions, including headaches, migraine, concussion, and overall brain health. She has held clinical appointments at the Yale University School of Medicine prior to starting her own practice, and has authored numerous articles, book chapters, and research publications.

Dr. Kuruvilla completed her medical internship at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Subsequently, she completed her Neurology residency at Brown University in Rhode Island, where she served as chief resident. She went on to complete a fellowship in Headache and Facial Pain at the Montefiore Headache Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Kuruvilla is board certified in Neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and certified in Headache Medicine by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties.

Dr. Kuruvilla’s primary focus includes advanced procedural treatments for the treatment of headache, such as nerve block injections, botulinum toxin injections and trigger point injections for the treatment of headache; she also specializes in comprehensive care for concussions, brain injury recovery, cognitive health, and overall neurological wellness. She is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and American Headache Society and actively serves on the special interests sections for the procedural headache medicine section of the American Headache Society. She has also been an invited reviewer and author for many peer-reviewed publications including Headache, Cephalalgia, JAMA, and the British Medical Journal.

Dr. Kuruvilla’s research and clinical work has been widely featured in the press, including Prevention Magazine, Neurology Today, Food Network, and the Wall Street Journal.

Press

Research and Professional Involvement

Peer-Reviewed Original Research

  • Kuruvilla, D, Acute treatment of migraine with external trigeminal nerve stimulation: a pilot trial. Cephalalgia Reports. 2019, Volume 2: 1–6.
  • Chou, DE, Kuruvilla, D, Acute migraine therapy with external trigeminal neurostimulation (ACME): A randomized controlled trial. Cephalalgia, 2019, 39(1):3-14.
  • Kuruvilla, D, Mellion, M. Impact of Preventive Medications in Migraine Patients at Rhode Island Hospital. Rhode Island medical journal. 2013, 96; 22-25.
  • Kuruvilla, D, Lipton, Richard B., Appropriate Neuroimaging in Headache. Current Pain and Headache reports. 2015, 19:17.
  • Robbins, Matthew S., Kuruvilla, Deena E. The Sphenopalatine Ganglion: Anatomy, Pathophysiology, and Therapeutic Targeting in Headache. Headache: The journal of head and face pain. 2016, 56;240-58.
  • Mehta, Amit, Kuruvilla, Deena E. Chiari Headache. Current Pain and Headache reports. 2018; 22:49
  • Mehta, A, Kuruvilla, DE, Hemicrania Continua: A Clinical Perspective on Diagnosis and Management. Current Pain and Headache reports. 2018, 18(12):95.
  • Mehta, A, Kuruvilla, DE. Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis headache. Current pain and Headache reports. 2019, 23(7):47
  • Motwani, M, Kuruvilla, DE. Behavioral and Integrative therapies for headache. Practical Neurology. May 2019.
  • Kuruvilla, DE, Evidence-based Integrative treatments for Headache. Headache. 2019, 59(6): 971-972.
  • Tolebeyan, AS. Kuruvilla, DE. Headache in Ruptured Intracranial Dermoid Cysts. Current Pain and Headache reports. 2020, 24(7):31.
  • Kuruvilla, DE. Cardiac Cephalgia. Practical Neurology. May 2020.
  • Zubair, AS, Kuruvilla, DE. Neuropathogenesis and Neurologic Manifestations of the Coronaviruses in the age of coronavirus disease 2019: A review. JAMA Neurology. May 2020

  • Principal Investigator – 2000024195 – Combined occipital and supraorbital transcutaneous nerve stimulation for treatment of migraine Neurolief RIME study
  • Principal Investigator – 2000023487 – Phase III randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled Trial of e-TNS for the Acute treatment of Migraine (TEAM study Cefaly)
  • Principal Investigator – 1608018278 – Multi-center, double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial on the acute treatment of migraine with the Cefaly® device
  • 2000022129 – A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel 20 Week Study of the Efficacy and Safety of the Tx360® Nasal Applicator for Transnasal Sphenopalatine Ganglion Block in the Treatment of Chronic Migraine.
  • 2000020133 – A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel-Group Study Comparing the Efficacy and Safety of 2 Dose-Regimens of TEV-48125 ( 1 Intravenous Administration, and 1 subcutaneous) Versus Placebo for the Prevention of Episodic Cluster Headache (ECH)
  • 2000020131 – A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel-Group Study Comparing the Efficacy and Safety of 2 Dose-Regimens of TEV-48125 (1 Intravenous Administration, and 1 subcutaneous) Versus Placebo for the Prevention of Chronic Cluster Headache (CCH)
  • 2000020132 – A Multicenter, Open-Label Study to Explore the Long-Term Safety and Efficacy of TEV-48125 for the Prevention of Cluster Headache
  • 2000023206 – BHV3000-303: Phase 3: Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo Controlled, Safety and Efficacy Trial of BHV-3000 (rimegepant) Orally Disintegrating Tablet (ODT) for the Acute Treatment of Migraine
  • 2000020570 – A Phase 3 Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of LY2951742 with a Long-Term Open-Label Extension in Patients with Chronic Cluster Headache

  • January 2019 – October 2020 – Yale University Neurology Department Cabinet Member
  • June 2018 – Course director for the Complementary and Integrative medicine symposium for the American Headache Society annual meeting
  • May 2019 – Guest Editor for the Headache edition of Practical Neurology journal
  • July 2019 – Course director for the physician wellness symposium for the American Headache Society Annual meeting
  • 2014 – present, Member, Procedural Headache Medicine section, American Headache Society
  • 2014 – present, Member, Inpatient Headache and Emergency Medicine section, American Headache Society
  • 2016 – 2020 – American Headache Society, Chair of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Section
  • 2016 – present – American Headache Society, Board member, Electronics Media Committee
  • 2017 – present – American Headache Society, News Editor
  • 2020 – present – American Headache Society, Chair of the Women’s Health Section
  • 2018 – present – American Academy of Pain medicine, Migraine Guidelines Committee Member
  • 2010 – present – American Academy of Neurology, Member
  • 2020 – present – National Headache Foundation, Healthcare Professional Leadership Council
  • 2020 – present – Association of Migraine Disorders, Research advisory Committee
  • 2020 – present – Migraine Science Collaborative – Advisor

  • 2020 – present – Reviewer for: Neurology: Clinical Practice
  • 2020 – present – Reviewer for: Practical Neurology
  • 2019 – present – Reviewer for: British Medical Journal
  • 2015 – present – Reviewer for: Clinical Case Reports
  • 2014 – present – Reviewer for: Cephalalgia
  • 2014 – present – Reviewer for: Pain Medicine

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