(ANSA) – ROME, JUNE 18 – After a long battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Paolo Annunziato, president of the only National Biobank on ALS and former director of the National Research Council, and president of the Italian Research Center, passed away at the age of 62 Aerospace (Cira), in the years in which he lived with the disease. His disappearance a few days after the celebration of World ALS Day which has been celebrated every 21 June since 1997.
The news was given by the Aisla association and the NeMO Clinical Centers which, through their respective presidents, Fulvia Massimelli and Alberto Fontana, remember him starting with his own sentence, which has become an emblem of hope for the entire ALS community: ‘It is not true that there is a cure for ALS, we just need to find it’.
A man of science, whose culture of change and innovation has been at the center of his actions, Annunziato has always placed his visionary ability at the service of our country’s institutions, without ever lacking the support and presence of researchers and clinicians, say Aisla and NeMO Centers. He has continued to promote conditions for increasing knowledge about the disease, believing in the need to intensify efforts and use research tools to amplify opportunities for therapy.
Convinced that the essential goal of progress is to preserve and protect the dignity of the person and of life, Paolo Annunziato has constantly encouraged his fellow sufferers, always recalling the importance of hope which, precisely in one of his last messages, he describes as that “strength that allows us to continue to fight, even in the face of difficulties”. That hope which, say Aisla and NeMO, “for an incurable disease such as ALS, today must take the form of an increasingly adequate management to guarantee and protect the quality of life”. The message that Paolo Annunziato leaves is full of wonder, courage and love.
The funeral in Rome, Monday 19 June. By the will of the family, the memory passes through the support of ALS research with a donation to Aisla through a free contribution or the purchase of her book ‘Love in the times of ALS’, through which to relive her emotions and his experiences. (HANDLE).
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