Page 116 - Annual Report 2018

In the afternoon, after the II scientific session, at the degenerative diseases: Towards an integrated
headquarters of the ABANCA Social Work Founda- model of neurodegeneration”.
tion, those attending the Congress visited the exhi-
bition "Alzheimer's: the Path of Memory". Upon Vallecas Project Volunteer's Day
arrival, Her Majesty Queen Sofia, was received by
the President of the Xunta de Galicia, Alberto Núñez One more year the tribute to the 1,200 volunteers of
and the curators of the exhibition. The exhibition ga- the Vallecas Project has been celebrated, an event
thered objects that belonged to the Nobel Prize in that had the participation of the Madrid Coral
Medicine Santiago Ramón y Cajal and photographs Alliance in a zarzuela concert.
that illustrated the trip from Malaga to Santiago de
Compostela by journalist Antonio Ortín (Diario Sur) The Queen Sofia Foundation and the CIEN (Neuro-
and photographer Alejandro Hurtado (Photo- logical Disease Research Center) Foundation, in co-
graphy); and was curated by Antonia Gutiérrez, Ana llaboration with LA ONCE, have organized the sixth
Grande, Enrique Viguera, Antonio Ortín and Alejan- edition of the Vallecas Project Volunteer’s Day, in
dro Hurtado. which the protagonists have been the more than
1,200 volunteers aged between 70 and 85 years that
The next day, at the Faculty of Medicine of Santiago, are part of this project of early detection of Alzhei-
two other new scientific sessions and a plenary ses- mer's disease, since it began its journey in 2012.
sion were held, attended by H.M. Queen Sofia and
in which were delivered the lectures “New thera- The Vallecas Project, which is being carried out at
peutic objectives for Parkinson's disease”, by Werner the Queen Sofia Foundation Alzheimer's Center,
Poewe, from the University of Medicine of Innsbruck, aims to identify biological and psychological mar-
and “The search for genes involved in neurodege- kers that allow an early diagnosis of the disease. With
nerative diseases: challenges and new strategies”, the follow-up of the volunteers, who annually go
by Ángel Carracedo, from the University of Santiago through a series of neurological tests, analyzes, in-
de Compostela. terviews and neuroimaging studies, we try to iden-
tify factors and variables that allow us to predict the
In the evening, Queen Sofia presided over at the Pa- possibility that a person develops Alzheimer's dise-
rador de Santiago de Compostela, the concert and ase, and thus implement programs of prevention
subsequent Reception offered to the authorities of and early diagnosis.
Galicia, Xunta, Santiago City Council and resear-
chers on the occasion of the VI CIIIEN Congress. The The Duque de Pastrana Auditorium hosted this act
day ended with a dinner commemorating the in which the Manager of the CIEN Foundation, and
"World Alzheimer's Day", which was attended by all the Secretary of the Queen Sofia Foundation, ack-
participants in the Congress. nowledged the volunteers on behalf of both organi-
zations for their selfless participation in the project
The Congress ended on Friday, September 21, coin- and highlighted the commitment of Her Majesty
ciding with World Alzheimer's Day. Dr. Miguel Calero Queen Sofia, who was unable to attend due to
Lara, coordinator of the Molecular Biology Area of agenda reasons but who closely follows the Project
the CIEN Foundation, was in charge of closing the VI and appreciates the efforts of the volunteers, in ad-
and last scientific session with the conference “Epi- dition to boosting the support of her Foundation to
demiological, clinical and molecular basis of neuro- the project, having just approved the continuation

CIEN Foundation Annual Report 2018 / 116