Page 26 - Memora anual Fundación CIEN 2017

INTERVIEW

10th Anniversary Queen Sofia Foundation Alzheimer Center

Almudena Flores Junquera,
CIEN Foundation Secretary of Management

How and in what year does Almudena Flores arrive at the
Alzheimer Center?

I started working at the CIEN Foundation in February 2007. At that time the
Foundation was based at the Carlos III Institute of Health, because the Alz-
heimer Center construction was not yet finished.
That is why my first visit to the Center was on the day of its inauguration, on March 7, 2007, attended by Their
Majesties the King and Queen of Spain, relevant authorities and professionals who at that time would be
part of the Queen Sofia Foundation Alzheimer's Center. That day we had an overview of the different fa-
cilities of the Center. In my case, the tour was more focused on the research unit, a site that the following
month, would become my place of work.
I found the building admirable, both from the architectural point of view (modern, with natural lighting, gar-
dens, etc.) and from the social point of view. They had managed to build a Center that combined a rese-
arch center, a day care center and a residence.

What do you remember and what would you highlight from the first years at the Alzheimer
Center? And today, what would you highlight?

I remember that being a Center recently built and just opened, I still had no life, therefore had not achie-
ved enough temperature inside, also the first months coincided with a spring of not very high temperatu-
res and we experienced quite some cold.
In the Research Unit, there were not many professionals who joined us in their work life. But we all had so-
mething in common: a tremendous desire to put the project in motion and to be a Center of reference.
The equipment, with which the Center began, was very advanced at the time.
Nowadays, looking back towards the beginning, I would highlight the progress of the Center and the pro-
jects carried out in it. In these years it has become a reference model for other Centers.

CIEN Foundation Annual Report 2017 / 26