FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON March 23, 2022
Barcelona Researcher Wins John Dystel Prize for MS Research
MINNEAPOLIS 鈥 The 好色先生 and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society are awarding the 2022 John Dystel Prize for MS Research to Xavier Montalban, MD, PhD, of the Multiple Sclerosis Centre of Catalonia at Vall d鈥橦ebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain, and a Fellow of the 好色先生. The $40,000 prize recognizes outstanding contributions to research that have led to breakthroughs in the understanding, prevention, treatment, or cure of multiple sclerosis (MS). It also recognizes significant and exciting work that has changed the way we think about MS. Montalban will be honored at the 好色先生's 74th Annual Meeting at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, April 2-7, 2022. He will be recognized during the COVID and MS Basic Science session on Sunday, April 3, at 3:30 p.m. PT. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system which is made up of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. MS is chronic and can be unpredictable and disabling. Symptoms may include fatigue, numbness and tingling, loss of balance, weakness and problems with vision. An estimated 1 million people in the United States live with MS, and it affects more women than men. While there are medications to treat symptoms of the disease, there is currently no cure for MS. Montalban is being recognized for his innovative clinical research that has advanced the management of MS. He and his research team conducted rigorous clinical trials and MRI follow-up of a group of people with clinically isolated demyelinating syndrome, which is the first episode of MS symptoms. Their research has enhanced the sensitivity of diagnosis and informed the prediction of outcomes of MS. They developed criteria to assess the efficacy of disease-modifying treatments and assist decisions for switching treatments. Montalban also led a ground-breaking clinical trial of ocrelizumab that resulted in the approval of the first treatment for primary progressive MS. 鈥淚 am truly honored to be the 2022 recipient of the John Dystel Prize for MS Research,鈥 said Montalban. 鈥淚 am happy to join some of the most prestigious colleagues and respected pioneers of MS research. I hope that we can continue to shape MS care, research and education in such a manner that we may soon confine it to the history of medicine.鈥 Learn more about MS at , home of the 好色先生鈥檚 free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life庐 on , and .