Xavier Montalban - Biography#

Prof. Xavier Montalban is an internationally renowned neurologist and neuroimmunologist specializing in multiple sclerosis and neurodegenerative diseases. He has served as Clinical Director of ACE Alzheimer Center Barcelona since 2024, Head of Neurology, Neuropsychology and Neurophysiology at Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona since 2005, and Professor at the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) since 2021.

A co-founder of the Catalonia Multiple Sclerosis Center (Cemcat), he continues to play an active role in the institution’s governance as President of the Cemcat Foundation, Vice President of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (Fundació Esclerosi Múltiple, FEM), and member of the Cemcat Governing Board since 2026. He has also served as Co-President of the European Charcot Foundation since 2025.

Prof. Montalban obtained his MD and PhD in Medicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 1990. He completed his Neurology residency at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and pursued postdoctoral training at St Thomas’ Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Between 2017 and 2020, he served as Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Neurology at the University of Toronto, as well as Medical Director of the Barlo MS Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

Prof. Montalban served as Director of Cemcat from 2007 to 2026, Head of the Clinical Neuroimmunology Research Group at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) from 1995 to 2026, Professor of Neurology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) from 2006 to 2026, and Head of the Neurology Department at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital from 2012 to 2024.

Prof. Montalban has authored more than 850 peer-reviewed publications, accumulating over 75,000 citations and an H-index of 118 (Scopus, May 2026), and has been listed among Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers for seven consecutive years.

He has served as principal investigator or collaborator on more than 35 competitive research grants and as principal investigator in over 150 clinical trials.

His research has fundamentally advanced the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis, including major contributions to diagnostic criteria, the development of prognostic biomarkers, and the creation of the Rio Score for treatment response. He led landmark clinical trials, including the pivotal ocrelizumab trial in primary progressive multiple sclerosis published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and has pioneered biomarker and digital health initiatives in neuroimmunology.

As co-founder and Director of Cemcat from 2007 to 2026, he helped build one of the world’s leading MS centers, integrating long-term patient cohorts with cutting-edge clinical research.