On Tuesday, Queen Sofía of Spain awarded research scholarships alongside her eldest child, Infanta Elena at the Alzheimer Center of the Queen Sofía Foundation in Madrid.
When the Queen arrived, she was greeted by Infanta Elena, as well as the Councilor for Social Policies and Family of the Community of Madrid, María Dolores Moreno and the President of the Mapfre Foundation, Antonio Huertas. They then took their seats in the front row of the auditorium for the award ceremony.
The ceremony began with opening remarks by the Manager of the CIEN Foundation, María Ángeles Pérez who explained the purpose of the scholarships. A video demonstrating the projects and research was also played with others, including Antonio Huertas, giving remarks.
Once it was time to begin handing out the scholarships, Queen Sofía took her spot on the stage. The winners were announced as Linda Zhang and Marta Garo Pascual. Her Majesty then congratulated them and presented their Fundación Sofía-Mapfre Research Fellowships before posing for photos.
The closing speech for the event was delivered by María Ángeles Pérez before the Queen was escorted from the auditorium with Infanta Elena and the others who welcomed her to the event.
The Queen Sofía Foundation works “for the benefit of the most needy. The fight against Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases have become a main line of action, with the ultimate goal of helping to respond and provide hope to the sick and their families,” according to Casa Real.
The Alzheimer Center Reina Sofía Foundation, its research unit, and the Mapfre Foundation work to provide young researchers with scholarships and support to continue their work that will one day, hopefully, discover a cure.
Casa Real explained, “Delivered for more than ten years, the Fundación Sofía-Mapfre Research Fellowship is awarded to young researchers in biomedical specialities, focused on applied clinical research in neurodegenerative diseases and early diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer’s. The objective of the scholarship is to promote multidisciplinary research and post-doctoral training, financing a research stay of between six and twelve months.”