Marcia Wilkinson

Marcia Isobel Pamela Wilkinson FRCP (née Harvey; 11 September 1919 – 4 February 2013) was an English consultant neurologist, researcher and medical director of the City of London Migraine Clinic (now the National Migraine Centre).

Early in her career she made a significant contribution to the understanding and surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. In 1963 she established a rehabilitation unit for disabled young people which radically improved their chances of returning home rather than remaining in care as was norm at that time. She led research at the City of London Migraine Clinic, developing new methods for the treatment and management of migraine.

In 2000 she became the first recipient of the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Award for her extraordinary contribution to relieving the burden of those affected by headache.

Early life and education Marcia Harvey was born on 11 September 1919 in Sheffield, England to Constance Armine (née Sandford) and Cosmo George St Clair Harvey, a colonel in the Royal Artillery. She attended Wycombe Abbey school, where she was head girl. She studied medicine at Somerville College, Oxford, where she was also a successful sports woman with blues in tennis and lacrosse, and a half blue in squash. The clinic both treated patients and carried out research.

In 1970 she was appointed medical director of the City Migraine Clinic (later Princess Margaret Migraine Clinic). The clinic was the first of its kind in the world, seeing patients while they were suffering from migraine, and assessing and treating them. The work of clinic led to a change in the treatment of migraine through the use of metoclopramide to assist the gastric absorption of pain killer combined with rest in quiet, dark rooms. The clinic was successful; most patients recovered within two to three hours, and in the first four years more than 2,000 patients were directly treated with 6,000 more being referred to other physicians. When the clinic was threatened with closure in 1979, Wilkinson lobbied for it to remain open, securing the necessary funding 24 hours before it was due to close. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Award (2000)

Personal life In 1944 she married Anthony Wilkinson. He died in action a few weeks later. In 1952 she married fellow physician Louis Sefton, a dermatologist, and together they had two daughters, Ottilie and Armine. Sefton died in March 1956.

Wilkinson died in her sleep on 4 February 2013.