Associazione Nastro Viola was founded in February 2015 by Francesca Mella and four other people that all lost relatives to pancreatic cancer. At the time, none of them had heard of pancreatic cancer and were shocked when they lost their family members just a few short months after initial diagnosis. They soon learned that pancreatic cancer is hard to detect at an early stage and knew something had to be done to both inform more people about the disease and advocate for continued research. This is why they decided to found Associazione Nastro Viola.

What are your organization’s main areas of focus?

“We mainly focus on raising awareness and offering initial support to people affected by pancreatic cancer and their families. We have a wide network of volunteers helping us to organize events to raise funds which we use to support young researchers and several projects.”

What is your organization working on that you’d like others to know about?

“We have recently won a grant which we are using to work on a website and an app which will contain information about pancreatic cancer, specialised hospitals, and a guide to treatment and clinical trials. The patients will also be able to access a forum and interact with people with the same disease.”

How can the WPCC support your organization and its goals?

“Being part of an international organization like the WPCC is crucial for us. We know we can share our experience with our members and learn a lot from them.”

What are you most looking forward to accomplishing with the WPCC over the next year?

“We have recently joined the WPCD Committee and we want to work hard on the WPCD campaign for November 2022. We believe the more we talk about pancreatic cancer, the greater the chances of an early diagnosis in the future.”

To read more about Associazione Nastro Viola, visit their website here.