SUPPORT OUR JOURNALISM: Please consider donating to keep our website running and free for all - thank you!

Spain

Queen Sofía awards scholarships for research on neurodegenerative diseases

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.

© Casa de SM el Rey

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 Queen with the winners and Mr Huertas. © Casa de S.M. el Rey

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.”

About author

Brittani is from Tennessee, USA. She is a political scientist and historian after graduating with a degree in the topics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in December 2014. She also holds a master's degree from Northeastern University. She enjoys reading and researching all things regarding the royals of the world. She's been researching, reading, and writing on royalty for over a decade. She became Europe Editor in October 2016, and then Deputy Editor in January 2019, and has been featured on several podcasts, radio shows, news broadcasts and websites including Global News Canada, ABC News Australia, WION India and BBC World News.