Barcelona. June 2008.
In May, IRB Barcelona received a very special visit. Marta Prous, Teresa Areny and Katy Álvarez came to present the Institute with money collected from about fifty anonymous individuals who wanted to contribute to the fight against cancer. The real story began some months before when Marta contacted IRB Barcelona through its general mailbox. In her email she explained that some friends and family were planning a get together to pay tribute to her sister Susanna, who had died from cancer two years earlier after a seven-year battle against the disease. "Susanna wrote tales and we've published one called En Joan i la Joana," a beautiful storybook for the youngest members of the family. "We have been giving people copies of the storybook in exchange for a contribution and we want to donate the money we collect to your center," Marta wrote in her email. No sooner said than done. In April they held the get together ‘Turn Susanna’s story into the seed of research’.
During their visit to IRB Barcelona, the three emissaries stopped by the MetLab, where they spoke to researchers, and were taken on a guided tour of IRB Barcelona by its director, manager and external relations team. Their message was clear: "You can show people that through small initiatives like this one you can also help to advance research. We have all done our bit to continue the fight against cancer." To keep this initiative going we are making the storybook available through our website. We warmly thank the supportive gesture of these remarkable women.
Participate in the initiative "Turn Susanna’s story into the seed of research!"
Make your donation and you’ll receive a copy of the storybook (while supplies last). Send an e-mail mentioning the story to
donations@irbbarcelona.org to find out more about it!
En Joan i la Joana is about a happy, funny, eager, little sock who wants to make a lot of friends...
Written by Susanna Prous i Vilaseca
Drawings by Pere Aguiló