Dr Xavier Montalban is Chair of the Department of Neurology since 2012, and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia (Cemcat) since 2007 at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Head of the Neuroimmunology Research Group at Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, and Professor of Neurology at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and at Universitat de Vic in Barcelona, Spain. He also was 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, and also immunological mechanisms of the disease and other aspects of clinical management of multiple sclerosis (MS).

He has been sought for many other 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. He is also a member of the Scientific Committe and Board Member of the European Charcot Foundation. He has also served on numerous regional, national, and international boards and committees.

Since January 2023 he is chair of the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in Multiple Sclerosis sponsored by ECTRIMS and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), one of the most influential Committee in MS worldwide.

He has authored over 800 original and revision publications in international peer-reviewed journals with over 65.000 citations plus several book chapters, while his Scopus H-Index is 109 (October 2024) and in the last five years he has been ranked among the Clarivate most cited researchers.

He has been the Principal Investigator (PI) or Collaborator in more than 35 competitive grants and have participated as PI in more than 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 recognises 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.