For the roughly one billion people worldwide who live with migraine, light itself is often the enemy, forcing many to retreat into darkness until an attack passes. New research out of Arizona State University suggests the fix may not be darkness at all, but a different kind of light.
Led by Ph.D. Nina Sharp of ASU’s The Design School, with Mayo Clinic neurologist M.D. Todd Schwedt, the study found that ordinary white light enriched with a touch of green wavelength, nearly indistinguishable from typical office or home lighting, reduced visual discomfort and headache intensity in people with migraine. Published in Neurol Ther, the work reflects years of Sharp’s research into how lighting design affects the nervous system, and her long-standing goal of turning that science into something people can actually live and work under, rather than a fix that only works in a dark room.
Testing white light enriched with Royal Blue, Cyan Blue, Green, and Red wavelengths, Sharp’s team found Royal Blue made symptoms worse, Cyan Blue aggravated them slightly, and Red was largely neutral, while Green enrichment eased discomfort and reduced headache frequency and intensity. “I am always interested in practical solutions,” Sharp said, describing the two years spent finding a color balance that works in real rooms.
That drive toward a practical solution led Sharp to co-found Allevalux with Schwedt, a startup now building neuro-optimized lighting products around their findings. Allevalux is part of EvoNexus’s incubation portfolio, and its story is a reminder of why the incubator exists in the first place: to give founders tackling genuinely hard, overlooked problems the room and support to turn rigorous science into something people can actually use. Watching Sharp’s work travel from a university lab into an active headache clinic is exactly the kind of outcome EvoNexus is built to help create. The technology has already reached its first clinical deployment at the Dr. Bondy Headache Center in Fountain Hills, Arizona, an early proof point for Sharp’s larger vision of lighting that works quietly in the background to support the nervous system rather than strain it.
About Allevalux
Founded by lighting scientist and Arizona State University researcher Nina Sharp, Ph.D., alongside Mayo Clinic neurologist Dr. Todd Schwedt, Allevalux, Inc. develops clinically validated, patent-pending neuro-optimized lighting technology. The company’s core innovation transforms ordinary white light into a spectrum designed to ease photophobia, reduce migraine symptoms, and support clearer, calmer neurological states within minutes, with applications built for healthcare, workplace, and educational environments.
Learn More At: https://www.allevalux.com/
About EvoNexus
EvoNexus is California’s leading nonprofit technology startup incubator, with locations in San Diego and Irvine. Since its formation in 2010, EvoNexus has successfully built 289 companies with an exceptional survival rate of over 85%, with portfolio companies securing over $2.4B in cumulative venture funding — backed by a network of more than 400 venture capital and independent investors — and achieving 63 acquisitions alongside 1 successful IPO, with additional public market exits on the horizon and over $6 billion in pre-exit valuations. Backed by an elite network of global corporate partners — including Qualcomm, AMD, BAE Systems, Viasat, ResMed, LG, Murata, and EMD Electronics — EvoNexus continues to drive massive economic impact across Southern California’s innovation economy, culminating in a record-breaking year with $619M raised in 2025 alone.