Dr. Xavier Montalban Gairín

Institutions of which it is part

General Hospital

Neurology

Multiple Sclerosis Centre of Catalonia

Director

I am Chair of the Department of Neurology since 2012 and director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia (Cemcat) since 2007 at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital. I am the head of the Neuroimmunology Research Group at Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) since 1995. I am Professor of Neurology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) since 2006 and at the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) since 2021.

Curriculum

I obtained my MD (1983) and PhD (1990) from UAB, and I completed my postgraduate fellowship at St. Thomas' Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. I obtained a Diploma in Comprehensive of Healthcare Institutions Management from ESADE (2005).

In addition to the positions I currently hold, between 2017 and 2020 I served as Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Neurology at the University of Toronto and as Director of the MS Center at St Michael's Hospital in the same city.

Since January 2023 I am the chair of the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in Multiple Sclerosis sponsored by ECTRIMS and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), one of the most influential Committee in MS worldwide.

Regarding other leadership roles I am past President (2014-2016) and current Honorary Member of the Council of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). I’m also Board Member of the European Charcot Foundation, as well as serving on numerous local, national and international boards and committees.

My scientific production acrues over 800 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals, amounting? more than 52,000 citations and a Scopus H-Index of 101. Over the last consecutive five years I have ranked among the Clarivate most cited researchers.

I have been the Principal Investigator (PI) or Collaborator in more than 35 competitive Projects and have participated as PI in more than 150 clinical trials.

Of Note, I am the recipient of the 2022 John Dystel Prize for MS Research, awarded jointly by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). I’m the winner of the 2023 Charcot Award granted by the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF), which recognises a lifetime of achievement in outstanding research into understanding and treating MS.