Dr. Xavier Montalban | BARLO the Time is Now

Dr. Xavier
Montalban

Dr. Xavier Montalban

NEUROLOGIST

Medical Director, BARLO MS Centre

Professor of Medicine and Director of the Neurology Department, University of Toronto


The medical director of the BARLO MS Centre and one of the world’s most renowned MS neurologists, Dr. Montalban is creating a global powerhouse in MS research and care.

Dr. Montalban comes to us from the MS Centre of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain, where he created a new model of holistic care and groundbreaking research.

“When I first started out in Spain, we had no treatment for MS,” Dr. Montalban says. “It was deeply concerning. So I began developing research and clinical care programs to improve the quality of life of people living with MS.”

His unique approach meant patients could be diagnosed and treated, undergo rehab and take part in research – all in the same place.

While building the Barcelona centre, Dr. Montalban continued to cement his reputation as a leader in MS research. He advanced treatment for primary progressive MS, one of the least understood types of the disease. He identified features that have become part of the diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis. He also pioneered studies on biomarkers for early detection of the disease and to determine how patients will respond to therapies.

Dr. Montalban is lauded by the world’s leading MS experts, who say he has some of the keenest insight into how MS evolves over time and has contributed to virtually every aspect of how multiple sclerosis is understood today.

Now Dr. Montalban has brought his vast expertise to St. Michael’s. We are, in his words, the right country, the right city, the right hospital – at the right time.

“We have an opportunity, which I can only describe as a dream. This is not going to happen twice,” he says.

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