EBRAINS joins panel discussion to tackle key brain health research challenges
EBRAINS Joint-CEO Prof. Katrin Amunts participated in a panel discussion at the “Brainstorming the Future of Brain Health” policy event on November 12, in Brussels, to which PolSCA, Swisscore, and the Helmholtz Association invited In a dialogue with the upcoming European Partnership for Brain Health, the event served as a platform to address urgent R&I challenges in the field, analyse collaborative research, and pave the way for future advancements that make brain health accessible and impactful for all.
Speaking at the Panel 'Infrastructures, Cooperation, Policy: Creating Critical Mass for Progress in Brain Health Research', Prof. Amunts emphasised that there are similar needs for basic and health science for data, software, computing. EBRAINS provides a comprehensive ecosystem of research technologies and resources, including an extensive range of FAIR datasets, leading digital brain atlases, AI-based tools for analysis, modelling and simulation, and access to high-performance computing resources to address these needs.
The panel was also attended by Kasia Jurczak, European Commission, DG RTD – Combating Diseases, Dr. Cezary Mazurek, Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center affiliated with the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, PAS and Prof. Indrit Begue, University of Geneva, Board Member of the Swiss Brain Health Plan. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Ulrike Busshoff, CSA Brain Health, DLR.
In her address, Prof. Amunts highlighted the critical role of well-curated and securely stored patient brain data in the context of personalised medicine and AI-driven diagnostics. The EBRAINS Research Infrastructure is helping to bridge the gap in delivering sensitive, privacy-compliant data solutions essential for medical advancements. EBRAINS provides technically mature solutions for personalised brain medicine and medical AI, including robust data storage, specialised software, and develops services for sensitive data.
Prof. Amunts also emphasised the importance of the connection between research infrastructures, which need continuous development in a dynamically changing environment and research-driven project funding. It needs strong awareness for each other in both ways. This could be reinforced through complementary funding mechanisms that supports both the development of RIs and the research activities that rely on them. Doing this across the many actors in Europe needs a sustained effort in a connecting framework, with efficient mechanisms. The Brain-Health Partnership can provide such a link in a coherent and sustained way.
Contact
Erhard Zeiss
Wissenschaftlicher Kommunikationsreferent
- Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM)
- Structural and Functional Organisation of the Brain (INM-1)
Room 3033