Rate My Professor Richard Stark

Richard Stark is Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University, having previously held the position of Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor from 2005 to 2022 and Honorary Senior Lecturer from 1993 to 2004. He graduated from Monash University as the top student in 1973, completed internship, resident medical officer, and neurology registrar training at the Alfred Hospital under Bernard Gilligan, and pursued advanced training at The London Hospital with Ronald Henson and at the National Hospitals for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square, London, as the Australian Association of Neurologists appointee supported by the Bushell Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. A Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians since 1982 and Life Member since 2020, Stark has served as Visiting Neurologist at Caulfield Hospital since 1982, Alfred Hospital since 1984, and as Sessional Neurologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute until 2015. He currently holds the role of Deputy Director of Neurology for Alfred Health and teaches third-, fourth-, fifth-, and final-year medical students at Monash University, as well as contributing to postgraduate courses in occupational medicine.

Stark's academic interests center on neurology, with specializations in headache and migraine management. He established the headache clinic at the Alfred Hospital, now the largest in Australia, and has trained numerous young Australian headache specialists while helping transform headache patient treatment practices. His key publications include 'Cluster headache in adults' (Australian Prescriber, 2022), 'Rimegepant: A new oral migraine medication' (Medicine Today, 2024), 'Medication overuse headache: less is MOH' (Pain Management Today, 2024; Medicine Today, 2025), and 'Successful relief of Glossopharyngeal neuralgia with syncope with OnabotulinumtoxinA: a case report' (Cephalalgia, 2023). Stark has occupied major leadership positions in the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists, including Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, and continues to lead in the World Federation of Neurology as Treasurer and Trustee, supporting neurology advancement globally, including in African countries. He is President Elect of the Australian and New Zealand Headache Society and holds memberships in the International Headache Society, American Academy of Neurology, and Australian College of Legal Medicine. His contributions earned the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for service to neurological medicine and professional associations, the E Graham Robertson Award in 2009, and the ANZAN Medal in 2012.