Summary
Iago Pinal-Fernandez, M.D., Ph.D. is a Staff Clinician in the Muscle Disease Unit of the NIAMS/NIH. He joined in 2015 as a Visiting Fellow, then transitioned to a Clinical Fellowship before becoming a Staff Clinician in 2021. Dr. Pinal-Fernandez is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications at the Open University of Catalonia.
Dr. Pinal-Fernandez graduated from the Santiago de Compostela School of Medicine and completed his 5-year Internal Medicine residency in the Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona. He has two doctoral degrees, the first in medicine and the second in bioinformatics, two master's degrees, one in molecular medicine and the other in research methodology, as well as a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering.
Research Statement
Dr. Pinal-Fernandez's research is focused on understanding the pathogenesis of inflammatory muscle diseases and on improving the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of patients with these conditions. To do so, he combines a variety of modalities of clinical and translational research. From a clinical perspective, he is involved in several natural history studies, and clinical trials to test novel treatments in patients with different types of myositis. Translationally, he is using bioinformatics and data science to understand inflammatory myositis by combining clinical, epidemiological, and molecular data.
Scientific Publications
Education
Open University of Catalonia
Ph.D. in Bioinformatics (2020)
Autonomous University of Barcelona
Master of Research Methodology in Health Sciences (2015)
Autonomous University of Barcelona
Ph.D. in Medicine (2014)
Vall d’Hebron Hospital
Internal Medicine Residency (2014)
University of Santiago de Compostela
Master of Advanced Studies in Molecular Medicine (2010)
University of Santiago de Compostela
Medicine Degree (2008)
Experience
Muscle Disease Unit, NIAMS/NIH
Staff Clinician (2021-Present)
Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Adjunct Assistant Professor (2017-Present)
Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications, Open University of Catalonia
Assistant Professor (2019-Present)
Muscle Disease Unit, NIAMS/NIH
Clinical Fellow (2018-2021)
Myositis Association
Research Fellow (2016-2018)
Muscle Disease Unit, NIAMS/NIH
Visiting Fellow (2015-2018)
Autoimmune Systemic Diseases Unit, Vall d’Hebron Research Institute
Postdoctoral Fellow (2015)
Myositis Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital
Research Fellow (2013)
Vall d’Hebron Hospital
Internal Medicine Resident (2009-2014)