Professor Josep Torrent passes away
Josep Torrent Farnell, professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology of the UAB, has passed away. The wake will be held at the Sancho de Avila morgue in Barcelona (Carrer Almogàvers 93) until 4 December at 12 noon, when the funeral will take place. The University wishes to extend its deepest condolences to the family and friends and all the people who knew and appreciated him, and expresses its sadness for having lost such a valuable member of its community.
An expert in rare diseases, Professor Torrent participated in the drafting of the national strategy on the subject for the Ministry for Health, promoted the Advisory Commission on Rare Diseases, chaired the Advisory Council on High Complexity Pharmacological Treatments of the Catalan Health Service, and was president of the External Scientific Committee of the Centre for Biomedical Research Network on Rare Diseases (Ciberer).
Torrent was the first director of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products, director of the Medicines Area of CatSalut, chairman of the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products and member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). In 2015 he was awarded the EURORDIS prize for excellence in the area of minority diseases and, last March, he received recognition from the Platform for Minority Diseases in the framework of the 16th edition of the day in commemoration of World Day for Minority Diseases.