CNIO Friends. CNIO Friends 253. CNIO Friends Postdoctoral Contracts 254. Excelentes : a book of portraits on ideas that drive the world 255

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1 253 Postdoctoral Contracts 254 Excelentes : a book of portraits on ideas that drive the world 255 CNIO opens its doors to 256 Benefactor Friends/Sponsor Friends 258 Donations to the CNIO 259 ANNUAL REPORT SPANISH NATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH CENTRE, CNIO 251

2 CNIO FRIENDS This year, once again, the philanthropic initiative was a source of immense gratification for our Centre. By December 2017, we had over 950 Friends ; their solidarity, support and efforts push us even further, in as far as possible, to advance with our crucial task of advancing cancer research. Thanks to all of our Friends, we were able to launch two new contracts in 2017 with the aim of attracting research talent that will enable us to commence and/or continue promising new lines of research to help us battle against cancer. One of the beneficiaries is the researcher, Carolina Maestre, from the Cell Division and Cancer Group, who will research the mechanisms of cell division in tumours. The other contract went to the scientist Sebastian Thompson, from the Growth Factors, Nutrients and Cancer Group, who will carry out research in the field of nanotechnology and its application for the treatment of the disease. In Maestre s own words, I would like to thank all those who have collaborated in this initiative that is enabling me to continue my scientific career in Spain. Thompson spotlights the donors : From the donor s point of view, seeing that the money is being used for the desired purpose is extremely enriching and necessary. This year, we have also maintained the collaboration with Juegaterapia Foundation to foster research in childhood cancer. This alliance has enabled the researcher Irene Felipe, from the Epithelial Carcinogenesis Group, to continue her research for a second year. Felipe s work focuses on neuroblastoma, one of the most common infancy tumours in the early years of life and the second most common tumour in children after brain tumours. In February 2017, within the framework of the initiative, the CNIO published the book Excelentes featuring portraits of the Centre s most influential visitors in recent years. The visual artist Amparo Garrido took care of the artistic representations and the texts were written by the journalist Mónica G. Salomone. Its pages invite the non-specialised public into the world of scientists through some of the ideas that move the world. Ideas from molecular biologists, such as the Nobel Prize-winners, Elizabeth Blackburn, Robert Huber and Paul Nurse ; physicists, such as Ignacio Cirac, who is featured on the book cover and entices the readers to open up its pages ; the palaeontologist, Juan Luis Arsuaga... as well as experts from other fields, such as the alpinist Edurne Pasaban, and the jurist María Teresa Fernández de la Vega. The book launch presentation was held at El Corte Inglés in Preciados with Mago More as the master of ceremonies, and the participation of one of Spain s most popular humourists, José Mota. The book can be purchased at El Corte Inglés, VIPS stores and through the CNIO website ; all generated funds go to initiative for cancer research. With every little helpful bit, we can achieve a lot! Throughout the year, we received many proposals for charity activities from anonymous citizens, town halls, etc. to support our work. This led to, for example, a thousand people turning the streets of Rojales in Alicante into a huge human wave to support cancer research during the 4th Women s Charity Walk organised by the Town Hall. The message was also clear in Las Pedroñeras, Cuenca, whose Town Hall held the 2 nd Cancer Charity Race, the profits of which also went to. Many other initiatives were organised across the length and breadth of the country. For yet another year, companies have also formed part of our Friends community. In 2017, the CLH Group, a leading company for the transportation and storage of oil products in the Spanish market, renewed its commitment and support to cancer research. Instrumentos Testo, S.A. a company specialised in portable measuring tools, also joined the charity initiative through the challenge of running 25,000 Km in favour of the CNIO. These accomplishments demonstrate that there are no challenges that cannot be overcome when it comes to research. ended the year with an optimistic outlook towards the future, and gave expression to this positivity with the help of two of Spain s most popular humourists. José Mota and Mago More both allowed their image to be used in a sketch whose release coincided with Giving Tuesday, the international day of donations to encourage society to support and encourage our work. In the sketch, they used all of their wit to shout out the message loud and clear : if many of us provide a bit, we will all do a lot! Another form of philanthropy that is progressively increasing in Spain has to do with the donation of legacies and inheritances in favour of research institutions such as the CNIO. In fact, during 2017 we were notified of the execution of 4 new legacies ( one more than the previous year ), which included deposits, accounts and other monetary assets, as well as real estate. In addition, we have received communications from several people informing us of their intention to include the CNIO in their will. We hope that this trend of favouring the research institutions of this country, and the CNIO in particular, through testamentary dispositions will increase, thereby matching what is already common practice in other countries. In summary, our Friends are an essential driving force in our efforts to find new solutions to fight cancer. Our deepest thanks to them all! SPANISH NATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH CENTRE, CNIO 253

3 CNIO FRIENDS POSTDOCTORAL CONTRACTS EXCELENTES : A BOOK OF PORTRAITS ON IDEAS THAT DRIVE THE WORLD The new recipients of the postdoctoral contracts are Carolina Maestre and Sebastian Thompson, from the Cell Division and Cancer Group and Growth Factors, Nutrients and Cancer Group, respectively. In February 2017, the CNIO published the book Excelentes, of which the sales revenues all go to the philanthropic initiative for cancer research. The launch of the book was wonderfully presented by Mago More, the master of ceremonies. The special event was even more momentous thanks Maestre is an expert on the progression of mitosis cell division as a target for the development of new cancer therapeutic drugs. We have identified a molecule that regulates mitosis and which is involved in the survival of tumour cells during their division ; we believe that if we can manage to inhibit its function, we could attack tumour proliferation. ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Thompson s work focuses on nanoparticles as drug carriers, particularly on their increased chance of reaching tumour cells in the organism. Thanks to, we will continue to work on finding the best way of getting as many of these nanoparticles as possible to the tumours ; this could pave the way for the application of the latest advances in nanotechnology to the treatment of cancers. 254 SPANISH NATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH CENTRE, CNIO to the participation of CNIO s director Maria Blasco, the visual artist Amparo Garrido, the science journalist and writer of the protagonists stories Monica G. Salomone, and the popular Spanish humourist José Mota, who put the icing on the cake and used his ingenuity and imagination to spread the message. 255

4 CNIO OPENS ITS DOORS TO CNIO FRIENDS BECOME A CNIO FRIEND more RESEARCH less CANCER One of the most exiting events hosted in 2017 was the Jornada Amigos del CNIO that took place in June and welcomed our donors/ in order to bring them closer to CNIO s science. Our donors spent an afternoon with us and once again demonstrated their great enthusiasm for being part of the important mission of conquering of cancer. Last but not least, we would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the anonymous benefactors who have donated their legacies to support cancer research at the CNIO ; in doing so they have contributed to society for generations to come. ANNUAL REPORT SPANISH NATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH CENTRE, CNIO 257

5 BENEFACTOR FRIENDS/SPONSOR FRIENDS DONATIONS TO THE CNIO ȹȹ Benefactor Friends Alfonso Agüera Nieto Santa Ana-Cartagena, Murcia Alvaro Gil Conejo Mijas, Málaga IES San Vicente de San Vicente del Raspeig San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante International Road Technology Consulting S.L Parla, Madrid 261,000 TOTAL CNIO DONATIONS 2017 (50,000 from the Juegaterapia Foundation) Andrés Sánchez Arranz Asociación de Afectados de Cáncer-AFECC Llerena, Badajoz Jaime Escobar Fermoselle Cadalso de los Vidrios, Madrid Jesús Miguel Iglesias Retuerto Valladolid, Valladolid 100,000 ATRESMEDIA ,000 Breatel, S.L.U. Deltaclon, S.L. José Limiñana Valero Alicante, Alicante José Luis Catalá López Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas 509,000 CNIO FRIENDS ,000 (50,000 from Juegaterapia) Dolors Bosch Güell Olot, Girona Encarnación Fernández Pérez Juan Félix Ortigosa Córdoba Granollers, Barcelona Luis David Sanz Navarro , , ,000 Enrique García Díaz Tomares, Sevilla Mercedes Cáceres Alonso Esther Valdivia Carrión María Dolores Díaz Almagro Sevilla, Sevilla Fernando Pascual Carreras María Jesús Amores Molero Jábaga, Cuenca Ferrán Nácher Carull Xativa, Valencia María Rodríguez López Celada de los Calderones, Cantabria Francisco Javier Gállego Franco Barbastro, Huesca Nemesio Carro Carro León, León Gema Rubio González ȹȹ Sponsor Friends Asisa Vida Seguros S.A.U. Asociación de Mujeres Alameda del Tormes por la Igualdad El Barco de Ávila, Ávila Colectivo de afectados El árbol de la Vida Las Pedroñeras, Cuenca Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos CLH, S.A. Freesia Group Salou, Tarragona Fundación Juegaterapia Instrumentos Testo, S.A. Cabrils, Barcelona Maria Josefa Azcona Peribañez 734,000 * LEGACIES bequests pending* , , ,000 44,000 DONATIONS BEFORE LAUNCH OF CNIO FRIENDS , , , ,000 Petroplast Logroño, La Rioja * In 2017, the CNIO was notified of 4 legacies ; calculation of their value is yet to be determined. ANNUAL REPORT SPANISH NATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH CENTRE, CNIO 259