Page 124 - MaquetaFundCIEN-2019-ENG

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Annual Report 2019
Elderly, who, after the presentation, were able to clarify and discuss some issues with the neuropsychologists.
Regarding donations, Dr. Alberto Rábano, director of the Tissue Bank and head of the CIEN Foundation’s Neuropathology Area, continues to promote the work carried out at BT-CIEN. Proof of this is that on September 11, he participated in the round table “Brain donation. Why and what for “, an event organized by the Foundation for a Tomorrow without Alzheimer’s at the León Unicaja Assembly Hall. In his intervention, Dr. Rábano explained that currently brain banks “have found their place, being one more type of biobank such as the blood ones.” And it is that, “brains contribute something very important such as human disease, research in recent years has been based on animal models, so the researchers have seen that they only partially reproduce the human situation”. Some of the leading experts on brain donation in Spain, such as Ana Cuesta, director of the León University healthcare Complex Biobank, and Javier Herrero, scientific director of the Castilla y León Institute of Neuroscience Neurological Tissue Bank. In addition, Dr. Rábano emphasized the work of family members, who “have been key in spreading the do- nation programs” and have helped reinforce the work of the biobanks.
Meetings with Associations of relatives of Alzheimer’s pa- tients and other neurodegenerative disorders
During 2019, CIEN Foundation organized and participated in a series of meetings with associations of relatives of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disor- ders patients, developing joint actions to disseminate advances in the Foundation research activities.
An example of this is the celebration on the occasion of World Parkinson’s Day on April 11, of a dissemination session on this disease, organized by the CIEN Founda- tion, CIBERNED (including its representative research group in Galicia, the Neuro- biology Group Cellular and Molecular of Parkinson’s Disease from the University of Santiago de Compostela) and the patient associations of Santiago de Compost- ela (ASPAC) and Vigo (PARKVIGO), which took place in the Galician capital.
The objective of the session was to contribute to making visible the real impact of Parkinson’s disease in the population and to inform, especially patients and their families, about the disease and current advances in its treatment. To know first- hand its social and emotional impact, representatives of the patient associations participated, who showed the work of this type of associations. A fundamental task in the day-to-day life of patients, but also their families. In addition, the at- tendees were able to enjoy the performance of the Parkinson Canta choir, from the Vigo Parkinson Association.
The event was attended by the mayor of the city, Martiño Noriega, representa- tives of the Department of Health and the University of Santiago de Compostela, patient associations, Ma Ángeles Pérez, managing director of the CIEN Foundation and CIBERNED, as well as Prof José Luis Labandeira García, who leads the repre-