These awards, granted by the government of Catalonia, were created in 1997 to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Josep Trueta, the celebrated Catalan doctor and scientist.

Among the winners of the 2013 Josep Trueta Medal were Dr. Albert Jovell, the Director of the UIC’s Global Institute of Public Health and Health Policy and a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. The remaining medals were awarded to the sports medicine specialist Miquel Albanell i Pemán, the pharmacist Miquel Almansa i Calzado, the registered nurse Margarita Coll i Falgas, the paediatrician Gonçal Roch i Soler, the oncologist Rafael Rosell i Costa, and the haematologist Josep M. Vilá i Cortasa.

The Josep Trueta Commemorative Plaque was awarded to the Osona Cancer Society, the Barraquer Foundation, and the company Grifols, S.A.

Artur Mas, the president of the government of Catalonia, who presided over the ceremony, congratulated this year’s award winners and thanked them for their dedication to the welfare of others. The president told them, “You are a call to self-confidence, role models and a point of reference for society”, and recalled that it is thanks to people like them “that we have taken giant steps forward in fields like biomedical research, where Catalonia accounts for 8% of the total for the European Union”.

The ceremony took place at the Palau de la Generalitat and was attended by Boi Ruiz, the Catalan Minister of Health, members of Dr. Trueta’s family and over 200 other people.