Dr Xavier Montalban, Head of the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital Neurology Department, Head of the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) Clinical Neuroimmunology Research Group and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Centre of Catalonia (Cemcat) has received the John Dystel Award for Multiple Sclerosis Research. This award is jointly sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

The award is a recognition of his contribution to research on the understanding, treatment and prevention of multiple sclerosis.

Since the 1990s, Dr Xavier Montalban has dedicated his career to multiple sclerosis and has led projects that have made it possible to establish the current diagnostic criteria that allow the disease to be diagnosed quickly. Dr Montalban has been a leader in designing and conducting the first clinical trials that strive to find new treatments for progressive forms of multiple sclerosis. He is also Director of the European Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Practice Guide and is the author of more than 500 indexed scientific publications.

The award is made possible thanks to a special grant from the John Dystel Multiple Sclerosis Research Fund of the National MS Society (USA), which was established in 1994 by husband and wife Oscar and Marion Dystel in honour of their son, John Jay, who sadly died from complications of the disease in 2003.