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26/02/2009 - Institutional news

Dr. Antó, director of CREAL, awarded the Josep Trueta medal for his outstanding contribution to healthcare

José Montilla, the president of Catalonia’s government, accompanied by health minister Marina Geli, was awarded the Josep Trueta medals and plaques for outstanding contribution to healthcare this Thursday, the 26th of February at 7 p.m. For the ninth consecutive year, Catalonia’s government honoured a series of people and organisations who have contributed to improving healthcare. The ceremony took place at the Palau de Pedralbes.

The people being honoured with the Josep Trueta medal and at this year’s edition are the following:

Dr. Josep Maria Antó i Boqué (Cornellà de Llobregat, 1952)

Antó i Boqué has a degree (1975) and a PhD with distinction (1990) in medicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Since 1986, he has been working at the Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM-IMAS), where he has been chair of the Respiratory and Environmental Health Research Unit. Dr. Antó is currently the director of the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), director of the Biomedical Research Centre Network for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP) and professor of medicine at Pompeu Fabra University. He has been a member of the advisory and editorial boards of several scientific journals, including the American Journal of Epidemiology, the European Journal of Public Health, the European Respiratory Journal, and Thorax. He has received various awards, among them the Narcís Monturiol medal conferred by Catalonia’s government (1995). His research is primarily focused on the epidemiology of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and directed towards identifying the environmental determinants and the prevention of these diseases. He is currently a member of the Health Advisory Council of the Health Department.

Mr. Joan Duran i Pou (Barcelona, 1949)

Duran i Pou has a degree in pharmacy from the University of Barcelona (1972) and postgraduate degrees in business administration and management (1984) and hospital management (1985) from the ESADE business school. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Pharmacists of Barcelona (1975-1978), assistant to the Pharmacy Service at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona (1978-1980), head of the Pharmacy Service at the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona (1980-1982) and at the Hospital de l’Esperança in Barcelona (1984-1987), owner of a pharmacy in Barcelona since 1987, president of the Official Association of Pharmacists of Barcelona (1994-2008) and president of the Council of Associations of Pharmacists of Catalonia (2000-2008). Mr. Duran was also vice president of the Medical Sciences Academy of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands and of the General Council of Official Associations of Pharmacists (1997-2002), member of the group of experts for the Consens sobre Atenció Farmacèutica (Consensus on Pharmaceutical Attention) of the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs and of the National Commission of the Royal Spanish Pharmacopoeia (2002). He was a member of the Management Committee for Establishing an Electronic Prescription Service in Catalonia (2007-2008), and he has been a member of the Health Advisory Council of the Health Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya since 2008.

Dr. Maria Rosa Feu Toca (Barcelona, 1956)

Feu Toca has a degree in veterinary science from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1989) and a PhD cum laude in veterinary science (1998). She had previously worked in the food industry sector. She has been a member of Barcelona’s Official Association of Veterinarians since 1989 and a civil servant with the Catalan government’s corps of veterinarians since 1992. Dr. Feu was also the founding president of the Veterinary Hygienists’ Association of Catalonia, of which she is currently a member. She was in charge of implementing an inspection programme for the poultry and rabbit slaughterhouses in Barcelona province (1999-2008). She was responsible for the official veterinary services to slaughterhouses in Baix Llobregat (2001-2008). In 2009 she was put in charge of the health safety teams of Barcelona’s Regional Service of the Health Protection Agency in Baix Llobregat Centre-Nord and Baix Llobregat Fontsanta. She has completed numerous ongoing training activities and has been a collaborating instructor in the course on the pathology and health inspection of poultry yards organised by the Council of Associations of Veterinarians of Catalonia and the Health Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Ms. Maria Carme Mata i Vidal (Lleida, 1951)

Mata i Vidal holds graduate degrees in nursing (1975) and social work (1978). She specialised in clinical analysis (1981) and has a masters in public and community health (1994). She has been a primary care nurse since 1975. She was head nurse of the primary care centres in the city of Lleida (1983-1988) and head of the Nursing Section of Lleida’s Health Management Department (1988-1993). Ms. Mata has been in charge of ongoing primary health care training and communication in Lleida at the Catalan Institute of Health since 1993. She has been an associate professor in the Nursing Department of the University of Lleida from 1989 to the present and the coordinator of breast cancer screening in the Lleida health care region of the Catalan Health Service. She has held positions in various associations and has been president of the League against Cancer in the Lleida region (since 2001), president of the Red Cross in Lleida (2003-2005) and a member of the Red Cross’ Executive Committee in Catalonia.

Dr. Sofia Minguell Vergés (Tortosa, 1960)

Minguell Vergés has a degree in medicine and surgery (1984) from the Central University of Barcelona, a masters in public health (1989) from the college of medicine and pharmacy at the Free University of Brussels and a specialisation in preventive medicine and public health. She works as a general practitioner in the primary health care division of the Catalan Institute of Health (1985-1990). She has been a civil servant with the Catalan government’s corps of those holding advanced degrees in public health since 1990, and she was head of the Epidemiology Section of the Territorial Health Service in Tarragona from 1993. She is currently in charge of the Epidemiological Montoring Unit of the Territorial Health Service in Tarragona. Dr. Minguell has participated in different research projects and was honoured with the Sagessa Prize for the best clinical epidemiology article published in 1996. She has been an educator with the Health Studies Institute since 1992, and she participated in the Public Health Agency of Baix Camp’s “demonstration project” (2006-2008).

Dr. Montserrat Pujiula Blanch (Montagut, 1966)

Pujiula Blanch has a degree in medicine and surgery (1990) from the Autonomous University of Barcelona’s Sant Pau Teaching Unit. She has a specialisation in family and community medicine (1993). She was accredited as a tutor for the family and community medicine specialisation programme (1995) and received a graduate degree in health care from the Institute of Public Health of Catalonia (1995). She began working as a family doctor at the Basic Health Area in Salt in 1994, which is where she began her trajectory in community health in 1996 and where she still works today. Dr. Pujiula has given instruction in primary care for the community at the Family and Community Medicine Teaching Unit in Girona since 1997. She has also been the coordinator of community health programmes and projects at the Basic Health Area in Salt, and one of these (prevention of falls in the elderly) was distinguished with the concession of various prizes and scholarships.

Dr. Carles Vallbona i Calbó (Granollers, 1927)

Vallbona i Calbó has a degree in medicine and surgery (1950) from the University of Barcelona. He earned his PhD cum laude from the same university in 1959. He did his postgraduate studies in Paris and Houston. He is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. He is a professor in the departments of Family and Community Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine, medical director of the community health programme in the Harris County Hospital District and director of the poliomyelitis clinic at the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research in Houston, Texas. Dr. Vallbona has written more than 270 scientific publications. Worth highlighting amongst them are his pioneer work in medical computer science and his research into the effects of immobilisation on disabled and healthy people as a NASA collaborator. He has been a consultant to the Department of Health and Social Security of Catalonia since 1980, and he is president of the Advisory Council on Physical Activity and Health Promotion that he created. He is on the Board of Trustees of the General Hospital of Granollers, where he created the Carles Vallbona Health Observatory of the Vallès Oriental.

Dr. Joan Ramón Villalbí i Hereter (Barcelona, 1955)

Villalbí i Hereter has a degree and a PhD in medicine from the University of Barcelona (1979 and 1990) and a masters in public health from Yale University (1983). He has worked in managing and evaluating public health and primary care services and programmes, and he is currently an assistant to the management of the Barcelona Public Health Agency. With his work, he has contributed to modernising the public health services of the country, incorporating science and management into public health reform. His research experience has been focused primarily on evaluating policies, programmes and service. In the teaching sphere, Dr. Villalbí is an associate professor of public health at the Pompeu Fabra University and Johns Hopkins University. He is a member of the editorial council of various scientific journals. He served on the boards of the Public Health Association of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, the Catalan Association of Primary Care, the National Committee for the Prevention of Tobacco Use, the European Committee for the Prevention of Tobacco Use and the Spanish Association of Public Health and Healthcare Administration. He has been the president of the Advisory Council on Tobacco Use of the Health Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya since 2004.

The organisations awarded the Trueta medals are the following:

Televisió de Catalunya. SALUT!

Programme Salut! is an informative programme with the objective of promoting the habits of healthy lifestyles and helping prevent the most common illnesses in our country. It is produced by TV3 in collaboration with the Health Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Begun in October of 2007, it follows three healthcare professionalsfrom different fields: Magda Tarrés, a nurse; Jordi Schlaghecke, a doctor specialising in occupational medicine; and Montserrat Baré, a family doctor. The programme is currently in its second season.

Xarxa Sida i Món Local a Catalunya

The Xarxa Sida i Món Local a Catalunya (“AIDS Network and Local World of Catalonia”), founded in Hospitalet de Llobregat in December of 2004, is comprised of several town and county councils, the Barcelona Provincial Council, the Generalitat de Catalunya, and scientific societies and NGOs from all over Catalonia, all related to HIV/AIDS. With the aim of promoting the involvement of the local world in the present and future fight against HIV/AIDS, a positive discourse is being generated towards this need. The Xarxa Sida i Món Local a Catalunya has defined the bases for a common model of local community intervention on HIV/AIDS in Catalonia. Additionally, it provides support to the agents that work within the local world for the application of this model of intervention and attempts to advance the initiatives that promote the sustainability of the programmes of intervention on HIV/AIDS.

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