Dr. Rafael Blesa obtained his medical degree from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 1975 and specialized in Neurology at Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.
After completing his Ph.D. in Medicine at the Universitat de Barcelona (1989) he worked at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland (USA) as an associate researcher in experimental therapies. He returned to Barcelona in 1993 where he directed the Alzheimer and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit at Hospital Clínic for 10 years. From 2003 to 2021, Dr Blesa was the Director of the Neurology Department at Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.
Dr. Rafael Blesa is the author of more than 30 book chapters and more than 170 scientific articles published in high impact national and international journals, and he has been the principal investigator of over 70 research projects and pharmacological studies in the field of Alzheimer’s disease. He is a member of prestigious medical and scientific societies that have awarded his scientific contributions in numerous occasions.
In his professional trajectory, he has combined clinical and research tasks with teaching activities as an associate professor of Neurology at Universitat de Barcelona and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and he has directed and supervised numerous doctoral theses.
Dr. Rafael Blesa has been the principal investigator of the advanced therapies research line within the Memory Unit.