Martí Massó, José Félix

José Félix Martí Massó (1947, Constantí) is Professor emeritus of Neurology at the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU. He was head of Neurology at the Donostia University Hospital-OSI Donostia and professor of Neurology at the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU's Faculty of Medicine until his retirement in 2018. He graduated in medicine and surgery in 1971 and obtained his doctorate in 1975 at the University of Navarre.

Dr. Martí specialised in Neurology and Internal Medicine at the University Clinic of Navarre. In 1975, he began his career as the first and only neurologist in the public health service in Gipuzkoa, treating over 100,000 patients and teaching over 3,000 students, some of whom form part of the service he heads today.

He was chairman and founder of the Ilundain Foundation and was the founder and first chairman of the Basque Society of Neurology (1988-1992). At present Dr. Martí is Chairman of the Aubixa Foundation.

Dr. Martí has contributed to the identification of the LRRK2 gene, which synthesises a protein he called dardarina, from the Basque dadara (trembling). He is currently working on a European project (Mefopa) and in the MJFF LRRK2 Cohort Consortium with researchers from around the world.

He discovered that cinnarizine, a medication used for the treatment of vertigo in elderly patients, is capable of inducing Parkinsonian symptoms and was the first to describe, along with neurologists from the Clínica Mayo, pseudomigraine syndrome with cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis, now called HaNDL syndrome.

José Félix Martí is chief researcher of 10 research projects and over 40 clinical trials, has published over 300 scientific papers, (170 are indexed in Medline), authored 3 books, edited another 7 and has given over 300 lectures at conferences.

Dr. Martí Massó was awarded the 2014 Euskadi Prize in the field of Science and Technology.

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