Date of admittance: 26/10/2010
Admission Speech: Tópicos típicos y expectativas mundanas de la enfermedad de Alzheimer
Speech in reply: Dr. Josep Llort Brull
Director of the Neurology Department at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona.
Having gained his MD in 1975 from the Autonomous University of Barcelona-Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Dr Blesa continued his training there as a Neurology resident until 1981. Attending Physician Department of Neurology Hospital Clínic, Barcelona in1982. In 1989 he relocated to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, in Bethesda, MD, USA, where he was Adjunct Researcher in the Experimental Therapeutics Branch. Following his return to Spain in 1992, he became Associate Professor of Neurology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Barcelona and Chief of the Memory and Alzheimer’s Disease Unit in the Hospital Clinic. In May 2003 he was appointed Director of the Neurology Department of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and Associate Professor of Neurology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He was President of the Catalan Society of Neurology (2001–2003), and President of the Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment Committee of the Catalan Government (2002–2006). Numerary member of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (2010). Corresponding Academician of the American Neurological Association and the American Academy of Neurology. Other appointments: Spanish delegate of the World Federation of Neurology and the European Board of Neurology (1996-2001), President of the Catalan Society of Neurology (2000-2004) and President of the Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment Committee of the Catalan Government (2002–2006). Chairman of the XVIII Alzheimer Disease International (ADI) Conference in Barcelona, (2002), Delegate of the Medical & Scientific Advisory Committee of the Alzheimer´s Disease International (1994), and President of the Alzheimer Spanish National Conference (2001).
Prof Blesa has a strong background in research, participating in more than 30 grants. He has published more than 230 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, 37 book chapters, 2 books and several book reviews. His research interests include neuroimaging (FDG, Amyloid and Tau positron emission tomography), validation of neuropsychological scales, therapeutic strategies for dementia, Alzheimer’s disease in Subjects with Down syndrome, and the genomic search for genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.