Dr Jitka Vanderpol

Dr Jitka Vanderpol is a highly respected Consultant Neurologist in Cumbria, where she has been practising since 2012. She is the Founder and Lead of the Cumbria Headache Service, established in 2012, and has served as Clinical Director for Neuroscience Development at the North Cumbria NHS, playing a key role in creating a new “Close to Home” neurology service, designed to make specialist care more accessible to patients across the region. She is the Founder and Medical Director of the Lake District Neurology Clinic, overseeing all clinical operations since establishing the clinic in December 2022.

Dr Vanderpol graduated from the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, in 1998. She became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in 2012 and earned her Executive MBA with Merit from Durham University Business School in 2014.

An award-winning, passionate clinician and researcher, Dr Vanderpol is recognised nationally for her pioneering work in headache and migraine management. She received First Place in the Innovative Technology or Device category at the Bright Ideas in Health Awards 2015 and has been honoured with six Clinical Excellence Awards. She founded the Cumbria Headache Forum in 2014—an educational platform recognised nationaly, dedicated to empowering patients through knowledge and self-management.

Dr Vanderpol demonstrates a strong interest in assisting patients with complex, undiagnosed neurological conditions to achieve accurate diagnoses and comprehensive care.  She firmly believes that patients benefit most from a holistic approach that integrates medical management with lifestyle and dietary interventions, supported by interdisciplinary collaboration.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr Vanderpol is deeply involved in education and research. She is an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire and a faculty member and speaker at both the Headache Academy (Royal College of Physicians, London) and the UK Neurology Academy.

She is a former President of the Anglo-Dutch Migraine Association (ADMA), where she remains actively involved.

Her first book, Helping You Successfully Manage Your Headache and Migraine: A Patient’s Guide (Cambridge Scholars Publishing), reflects her commitment to improving patient understanding and quality of life through evidence-based, patient-centred care enabling self-management.