University of Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Hello
My name is Jordi Diaz Manera. I am a adult Neurologist from Spain working as Professor of Neuromuscular Diseases at the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Center in Newcastle, UK.
I am passionate about science. I am especially interested in understanding mechanisms leading to muscle diseases and the development of new therapies.
I attended my first WMS in Asilomar in 2013 and I realized that the congress was perfect, as it has the perfect combination of clinical and basic research. Since then I have participated in all WMS congress enjoy every year more and more. Since two years ago I am also participating in the precongress courses, which is something that I enjoy a lot.
I am passionate about new technical developments and their application to the neuromuscular diseases. For example, I am excited with new MRI techniques, motion sensor, artificial intelligence and other applications that can improve the diagnosis and care of our patients.
I am Professor of Neuromuscular Diseases at Newcastle University in UK. I did my training in Neurology in Barcelona in Hospital Sant Pau from 2001 to 2005 and after that I became an associate member of the Neurology department, working at the Neuromuscular Disorders Unit lead by Prof. Isabel Illa. During my 15 years in Barcelona I was in charge of the diagnosis and care of patients with inherited and acquired myopathies. In 2013 I read my thesis entitles "New diagbnostic and therapeutic aspects of dysferlinopathy" that obtained a "cum laude" mention. In 2020 I moved to Newcastle, where I work at the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Researcg Center
I have a keen interest in basic and clinical research. Our lab in Newcastle is working in understanding the process of muscle degeneration in different neuromuscular diseases with the aim to develop new treatments. I am leading projects focused on the application of muscle MRI to the quantification of the degenerative process in patients with neuromuscular diseases.
I have been the coordinator of the Neuromuscular Study Group of the Spanish Neurology Society from 2012 to 2014 and a member of the Directive Committee of the Catalan Society of Neurology from 2017 to 2019. As member of these two professional associations I was in charge or organizing annual meetings, conferences and courses for trainees. I Recently, I have been the chair of the TREAT-NMD LGMD Task Force where I have been involvedd in organizing a full educative program for clinicians around the world.
In my first two years in UK I have secured more then 3.5 million pounds in research as PI in projects related with basic and clinical research, including the Academy of Medical Sciences Professorship scheme and a grant funded by the MRC.
Research outputs: Publications = 172, H-index 40 and 6800 references (Google-Scholar).
