Serena L. Orr | Top 40 Under 40 2025

Age: 39

Occupation: Clinician-Scientist, Pediatric Neurology, Alberta Children’s Hospital

Serena Orr has always rooted for the underdog — it’s why she specializes in headache disorders, a field often overlooked due to its stigma. Headaches and their impact on people’s lives are often dismissed, but they are among the top three most common and disabling disorders worldwide.

As a pediatric neurologist, Orr studies headache disorders in children and youth. She believes her patients’ pain, fights stigma, educates providers and combines her research with her clinical work to implement change.

“When you see youth coming in and the massive impact [headaches have] on their life, it really highlights how much work we still need to do to make things better,” says Orr.

In 2019, she helped establish the world-class Pediatric Headache Program at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. The clinic has a range of health-care providers, including a direct line to psychiatry, and offers services not typically available through primary care — especially for pediatric patients — such as nerve blocks, Botox treatments and other interventional approaches. Add to that, Orr has received more than $1 million in research grants, including two highly competitive Canadian Institutes of Health Research grants.

Her work has raised awareness of the relationship between trauma and migraine in kids and the importance of trauma-informed care. She’s published studies showing that kids with migraines have double the chance of having an anxiety or depressive disorder, and this research effectively changed clinical practice to include recommending screening every child with migraines for anxiety and depression. She’s also led multiple protocol changes on how to treat patients coming into the emergency department with migraines, and studies have since shown these changes have led to patients receiving fewer opioids, improving health outcomes and reducing hospital visits.

“I hope that as we do more research and learn more about this disease, it helps reduce stigma and improve access to care,” she says.

Thank yous
“My husband, Trevor Shiomi, who has supported me to become the best version of myself as we have grown together over the past two decades, and my children, Kieran and Elise, who bring the greatest joy and light to my life and remind me of why the work that I do matters. I would also like to thank the countless past and present mentors who have helped me to find my way through all of the hurdles.”