The director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia (CEMCAT), has actually been acknowledged with the 2023 Charcot Award, a distinguished reward that honors scientists for their life time pursue comprehending several sclerosis (MS).
Xavier Montalban, MD, PhD, has actually added to a number of locations of MS research study and scientific care throughout his 30-year profession with a specific concentrate on progressive types of the illness.
The award is offered when every 2 years by the MS International Federation (MSIF), a worldwide network of companies working to enhance the lifestyle in those impacted with the illness and to bring an end to the neurodegenerative condition.
Montalban has actually studied different elements of MS utilizing a MRI to keep track of the illness and in recognizing biomarkers that assisted forecast its development and reaction to treatment. He likewise studied the function of the body immune system in MS and checked out methods to handle and treat the condition.
Montalban likewise assisted establish the MAGNIMS agreement standards and the MRI requirements for the medical diagnosis of MS and was an essential factor towards establishing the 2010 and 2017 McDonald requirements.
His work was important in establishing and carrying out crucial scientific trials, consisting of those that caused approvals of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and Gilenya (fingolimod) in relapsing and progressive types of MS.
Honoring a 30-year profession
“I am truly honored and humbled to be the recipient of the 2023 Charcot Award. I would like to thank the MSIF, one of the world leading Institutions in MS which I have felt a strong attachment to for the whole of my career,“ Montalban, who served as chair of the network’s International Medical and Scientific Board (IMSB), said in a press release. “This award indeed marks the top of one’s career of [30] years in which we have gone from a horizon with no treatments, no way out, to the most advanced drugs that today clearly are instrumental in making the journey of people living with MS much less harmful.”
Montalban now acts as chair of neurology at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Spain and is the chief of the neuroimmunology research study group at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute.
He has actually likewise chaired the International Progressive MS Alliance’s clinical steering committee considering that its beginning in 2013. The alliance collects worldwide specialists to speed up the advancement of efficient treatments for progressive MS. MSIF is an establishing member.
Montalban is likewise a member of the board of the European Charcot Foundation and of the International Panel on Multiple Sclerosis Diagnostic Criteria and Clinical Trials, and the previous president of the European Committee of Treatment and Research in MS (ECTRIMS). He likewise works as editor for scientific cases of the Multiple Sclerosis Journal.
“Professor Montalban has led a world-class MS center (CEMCAT), has led numerous clinical trials, has contributed pivotal insights into the imaging features of MS, and has served as the Chair of the International Medical and Scientific Board of the MSIF,” said Brenda Banwell, MD, chair of the MSIF IMSB, and Jorge Correale, MD, deputy chair of the MSIF IMSB. “In all of these roles, he has collaborated extensively and is valued colleague to our entire community.”
The Charcot Award brings a £1,500 (about $2,000) reward and the winner is welcomed to offer the Charcot Lecture at the ECTRIMS conference, held each October.
