Barcelona couple leaves €1.55m to cancer research centre
Thursday, February 1, 2018 @ 1:00 PM
A BARCELONA couple has left over €1.55 million to the city's Biomedical Research Institute (IRB) to help them in their ongoing investigations into cancer.
This is the first time the IRB has been left funds in a will, and says it has come from a married couple who specified it should be put towards researching metastasis.
Their names have not been revealed, but their solicitor Jaume Solé Janer says the couple has 'always been committed to cancer research', having made 'numerous donations whilst alive' to hospitals, charities and scientific organisations to help fund research and care for cancer patients.
“Their impression of the IRB in Barcelona was always excellent,” said Solé Janer, who revealed that the couple had decided to leave their fortune to the institute after meeting its co-director, Dr Joan Massagué, in 2009.
Manager Dr Joan J. Guinovart says: “For over seven years, we kept in constant contact, met on several occasions, and they visited our laboratories.
“The considered research into metastasis to be absolutely necessary and a chance to advance in our knowledge and improve general health – it made them very happy to be able to leave their funds to us.”
Several key research projects into the origins and treatment of metastatic cancer are currently under way at the IRB, and the money will be 'crucial' to speeding up their studies, Guinovart reveals.
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