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Manuel Comabella Lopez

Dr. Manuel Comabella earned his medical degree at the University of Barcelona, completed his neurology residency at the Neurology Department of the Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron (HUVH), and earned his PhD at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Since 2004, Dr. Manuel Comabella is the Head of the Clinical Neuroimmunology laboratory at the Fundació Institut de Recerca del HUVH. Since June 2008 he works as a clinical neurologist at the Department of Neurology / Neuroimmunology of the MS Centre of Catalonia (Cemcat), HUVH, Barcelona.

Institutions of which they are part

Main researcher
Clinical Neuroimmunology
Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca
Responsable Laboratori
Multiple Sclerosis Centre of Catalonia

Manuel Comabella Lopez

Institutions of which they are part

Main researcher
Clinical Neuroimmunology
Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca
Responsable Laboratori
Multiple Sclerosis Centre of Catalonia

Dr. Manuel Comabella earned his medical degree at the University of Barcelona, completed his neurology residency at the Neurology Department of the Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron (HUVH), and earned his PhD at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Since 2004, Dr. Manuel Comabella is the Head of the Clinical Neuroimmunology laboratory at the Fundació Institut de Recerca del HUVH. Since June 2008 he works as a clinical neurologist at the Department of Neurology / Neuroimmunology of the MS Centre of Catalonia (Cemcat), HUVH, Barcelona.

From 1996 to 1998, Dr. Manuel Comabella was a Research Fellow in Neuroimmunology at the Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women´s Hospital, in Boston. In 2010 was awarded with the Ayudas Merck Serono in the multiple sclerosis research area. In 2011 was awarded by the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) with the Biogen Idec Prize to the best publication on demyelinating disorders. In 2013 was awarded by the SEN with the Novartis Prize to the best oral communication and the best publication on demyelinating disorders. In 2014 received the Neurological Disorders Award, scientific modality, granted by the SEN. In 2016 was awarded with the Ayudas Merck Serono in the multiple sclerosis research area. From 2018 to 2020, Dr. Manuel Comabella was a collaborator of the Biomedicine area at the Division of Coordination, Evaluation and Scientific and Technical Follow-up of the State Research Agency, Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

Dr. Manuel Comabella is member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis Journal, member of the Board of the ESNI (European School of Neuroimmunology), and member of the Strategic Group of the IMSGC (International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium). He is coauthor of 297 documents indexed in MedLine (Scopus: 12916 total citations, with h-index of 54). Dr. Manuel Comabella's research interest lies in the identification of biomarkers related with different aspects of multiple sclerosis and the development of new therapeutic strategies for the disease.

Research lines

Biomarkers of susceptibility, diagnosis and prognosis in MS (IV)

Study of humoral responses against Epstein-Barr virus as a long-term prognostic factor in patients with MS.


Characterization of the immunological profiles associated with the different MS phenotypes.


Study of extracellular vesicles derived from CNS cells as prognostic biomarkers in patients with MS.


IP: Manuel Comabella Lopez

Study of the pathogenesis of MS and search for new targets and/or therapeutic approaches (II)

Delve in the characterization of therapeutic targets identified by the group i.e. chitinase 3-like 1 and the NLRP3 inflammasome, for the development of new treatments in patients with MS.


Development of new humanized preclinical models of MS to investigate primary glial pathology, as well as the neuroprotective potential of new therapeutic agents: (i) generation of human glial chimeric mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; (ii) transplantation of oligodendrocytes derived from MS patients into demyelinated human brain-slice cultures.

IP: Manuel Comabella Lopez

Projects

Characterization of chitinase 3 like (CHI3L1) effect on neurons: Towards developing CHI3L1 inhibitors to prevent disease progression in MS

IP: Manuel Comabella Lopez
Collaborators: -
Funding agency: Asociación Esclerosis Múltiple España
Funding: 50000
Reference: EME/PROJECTE/2024/COMABELLA
Duration: 30/09/2024 - 30/09/2025

Beca VHIR PhD

IP: Manuel Comabella Lopez
Collaborators: Sira Rodrigo Bosch, Laia Perez Lasarte, Elisa Marín Ordovás, Miriam Izquierdo Sans
Funding agency: Fundació Institut de Recerca HUVH
Funding: 69188.74
Reference: VPHD/ELISA_M
Duration: 01/04/2023 - 31/03/2026

BEHIND-MS: The role of an Epstein-Barr virus infection in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis

IP: Manuel Comabella Lopez
Collaborators: -
Funding agency: EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Funding: 248720
Reference: BEHIND-MS_HE-HLTH2023
Duration: 01/12/2023 - 30/11/2028

Red de investigación en inflammasoma y piroptosis en enfermedades crónicas y cáncer

IP: Manuel Comabella Lopez
Collaborators: -
Funding agency: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación-MICINN
Funding: 0.01
Reference: RED2022-134511-T
Duration: 01/06/2023 - 31/05/2025

Ministerio de Ciencia

Related news

In total, different projects of six research groups will be promoted, focusing on precision medicine and advanced therapies.

Dr. Carmen Espejo and Dr. Georgina Arrambide, researchers at Cemcat and Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, are the first authors of the article.

The research findings propose to modify the McDonald 2017 criteria, only in those in whom diagnosis using the current criteria is not possible.

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