Dr. Josep Dalmau, Group Leader at the CaixaResearch Institute and at IDIBAPS, has been named Honorary Member of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN). This is one of the highest honorary distinctions granted by the academy, reserved for figures whose contributions to neurology have had an exceptional and lasting impact on the field.

The appointment was announced during the Opening Session of the EAN Congress 2026, held in Geneva and attended by neurologists from across the world. Outstanding contributions to neurology by distinguished members of the community were acknowledged with the presentation of Honorary Membership to Prof. Josep Dalmau and Prof. Pamela Shaw, recognitions that celebrated scientific excellence and long-standing dedication to the neurological community. Sharing this recognition with Prof. Shaw, one of the most respected voices in motor neuron disease research, places Dr. Dalmau among a very select group of scientists honoured by the EAN each year.

Dr. Dalmau receives this distinction in recognition of his international leadership in neuroimmunology, a field he has helped shape over more than two decades of research. He is best known for identifying anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a discovery that transformed the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune encephalitis worldwide. Before his work, many patients with this condition went undiagnosed or were treated for unrelated psychiatric illnesses. Dr. Dalmau’s research gave clinicians a way to identify the underlying autoimmune cause and treat it directly, turning a once poorly understood and frequently devastating disease into one that, when caught early, is often treatable and reversible. His work has since opened the door to the identification of several other autoimmune encephalitis syndromes, establishing an entirely new diagnostic category within clinical neurology.

This new distinction adds to an especially strong recent period for Dr. Dalmau, who in 2025 also received the Premio Nacional de Investigación and delivered the Lección Conmemorativa Jiménez Díaz. Together, these recognitions confirm his position as one of the most influential voices in the study of autoimmune encephalitis and immune-mediated neurological disorders.

At the CaixaResearch Institute, we warmly celebrate this new recognition of Dr. Dalmau’s work, which reinforces the Institute’s role in advancing excellence in immunological research on the international stage.