The European Brain Research Area (EBRA) promotes cooperation and exchange between brain research projects and networks through the formation of research clusters.
Since 2019, open calls were launched by the EBRA consortium that resulted in the creation of six clusters. The focus of these clusters revolved around brain health and nutrition (BRAINFOOD), epilepsy (EPICLUSTER), the prevention of severe mental disorders such as psychosis and bipolar disorders (PSMD), predictive model systems (PREMOS), Down syndrome and disorders of the developing brain (TRISOMY21) and imaging biomarkers (ECIB).
2022 is the final year of EBRA and to mark the end of the project, we invited cluster representatives to discuss the objectives, outcomes, and future directions of their work.
Representatives of the research infrastructure EBRAINS, a partner of the EBRA project through the Human Brain Project, conducted interviews with cluster coordinators. The interviews consisted of a presentation of the purpose of the clusters and a description of the role of the partner involved, but also touched upon the key research and advocacy points raised during the cluster activities (messages to policymakers, needs about data-sharing, or ethical considerations, for example) and outline future plans of the clusters.
We hope you enjoy learning about the EBRA clusters in these interviews – all videos are now available on YouTube and in the Clusters menu of the website: