Xavier Montalban

Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Centre of Catalonia
Professor of Neurology UAB and UVic-UCC
Head of Clinical Neuroimmunology at VHIR
Senior Consultant of the Department of Neurology
Vall d’Hebron University Hospital. Barcelona
Co-President of the European Charcot Foundation
Barcelona | Spain

Dr. Xavier Montalban is director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia (Cemcat) at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, professor of neurology at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya, in Barcelona, Spain, head of the Neuroimmunology Research Group at Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, and senior consultant of the Department of Neurology at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital. Previously, he served as chair of the Department of Neurology at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital from 2012 to December 2024. He also held the position of director of the Division of Neurology and professor of neurology at the University of Toronto from 2017 to 2020.
His research interests include clinical trials, as well as clinical, MRI, and biological factors of disease prognosis and treatment response, alongside immunological mechanisms of the disease.
He has been sought for many leadership roles, such as president (2014–2016) and current honorary member of the Council of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). He was also co-chair of the Steering Committee of Magnetic Imaging in Multiple Sclerosis (MAGNIMS) and member of the Steering Committee of the International Progressive MS Alliance. Since January 2025, he has been serving as the current co-president of the Board of the European Charcot Foundation (ECF), further solidifying his influence in the MS field.
In addition to his current roles, Dr. Montalban also chaired the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in Multiple Sclerosis sponsored by ECTRIMS and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) until December 2024, a role that underscored his prominence in the MS research community.
Dr. Montalban has authored over 800 original and revision publications in international peer-reviewed journals, accumulating over 65,000 citations. His Scopus H-Index is 110 (January 2025), and in the last seven years, he has been ranked among Clarivate’s most cited researchers. He has been the principal investigator (PI) or collaborator in more than 35 competitive grants and has participated as PI in over 150 clinical trials.
Among the awards received, it is worth highlighting the 2022 John Dystel Prize, awarded jointly by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), and the 2023 Charcot Award granted by the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF), which recognizes a lifetime of achievement in outstanding research into understanding and treating MS. Additionally, he received the 2024 Fundación Lilly Biomedical Research Award for Clinical Research and the 2023 Award for Research Trajectory in Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) Hospitals.

@XMontalban
www.linkedin.com/in/xaviermontalban
ID: 0000-0002-0098-9918
SC: 7007177960