Strokes and traumatic spinal cord and brain injury
The 25th edition of La Marató de TV3 and Catalunya Radio, dedicated to strokes and traumatic spinal cord and brain injury, closed finally with the scoreboard showing 11,384,148. Between 18 December, when the programme was shown, and 31 March, when the period for receiving donations closed, almost 3 million euros more was collected, making this year's scoreboard the one that grew most after the broadcast.
The expressions of support and the participation surrounding La Marató 2016, as well as the impact of the awareness-raising campaign, have left figures that exceed those of previous editions: organisations from all over Catalonia and from outside set up 3,592 popular activities in which over a million people took part, 3,415 volunteers gave up their time to answer the thousands of calls making donations during more than 15 hours of live TV broadcasting and six on the radio, and 230,000 youngsters received one of the 5,289 informative talks given in 1,200 schools, civic centres and libraries. This was a huge movement of participation that, along with the thousands of donations from private individuals, associations and companies, has led to an exceptional new milestone that confirms the confidence that this project enjoys throughout society.
A boost for biomedical research in strokes and traumatic spinal cord and brain injury
The money collected in La Marató 2016 will give a decisive boost to research in strokes and traumatic spinal cord and brain injury in order to continue making progress in rehabilitation therapies, finding new ways of preventing strokes and curing their consequences, among other goals. The Foundation will finance the projects of scientific research of excellence that receive the highest scores among the 100 that have been presented in response to the call for applications.
International scientific experts in strokes and traumatic spinal cord and brain injury are currently reviewing the candidate projects for funding by means of an evaluation process co-ordinated by the Catalan Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Research (AQuAS). Each application will be scored by two assessors for its quality, methodology, scientific, health and social relevance, innovative value and viability.
Finally, an ad hoc committee will present a list with the highest scoring projects, which will be studied by the Scientific Advisory Committee and presented to the Board of the Foundation for approval. The decision on the distribution of the funds that have been collected will be published in November 2017.