Bridging the Innovation Gap: Precision Neurology for the Next Decade

On the 2nd of September, at the VISION EUROPE 2030 event organised by European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM),  experts discussed how innovation can reshape diagnosis and treatment in neurology. The session ‘’Bridging the Innovation Gap – Precision Neurology for the Next Decade’’, featured leading voices from research and healthcare, including Prof. Philippe Vernier, Joint-CEO of EBRAINS.

Data, infrastructure and collaboration

Prof. Vernier stressed that neurology primarily relies on imaging tools (e.g. MRI, CT scans, EEG), which enable to put together the clinical data for diagnosis and treatment. He highlighted that progress in precision neurology depends on three essential elements:

• High quality longitudinal patient datasets: the need for high-quality long-term clinical research data is essential to build predictive brain models, but their use remains limited.

• Specialised secure European repositories: currently there are not enough big data spaces to enable optimal storage and use of clinical research data.

• Advanced skills:  more IT and AI specialists are needed to gather, process, curate and interpret complex datasets to create brain models useful in medical settings.

He emphasised the importance of collaboration with key stakeholders – including the European Commission, patient associations, and industry. Research Infrastructures need EU and national funding to advance brain health and move closer to the ability to predict brain behaviour. At the same time, Research Infrastructures need to establish clear and efficient workflows to collaborate with industry, ensuring innovations in brain science can be translated into medical solutions for patients.

Patient data and EU sovereign cloud

Prof. Philippe Amouyel, French Foundation of Scientific co-operation in Alzheimer’s Disease, France, also underlined that cooperation between different European and international initiatives focused on brain and health research, such as EBRAINS, EBC (European Brain Council), Neuron ERA-NET, JPND (Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research), IHI (Innovative Health Initiative), is the best asset to fight neurological diseases.[1]

He called for a major policy action, namely, to establish an EU sovereign cloud for medical data.  He explained that neurologists rely on longitudinal patient datasets[2]  to understand how the brain changes and to design truly personalised treatments[3]. However, since GDPR introduction, burdensome administrative barriers hold back research advancements. Therefore, an EU cloud platform regulated under EU legislation would reduce these obstacles while ensuring fair data management and patient trust.

Lastly, he pointed to the forthcoming EU funded European Partnership for Brain Health, starting its activities in January 2026, as a great opportunity to advance precision neurology.

The psychological aspect and patient perspectives

Roberto Grasso – research fellow at the European Institute of Oncology, and neuropsychologist at the University of Milan – highlighted the cognitive side-effects in brain cancer treatments (i.e., chemo-fog) that can affect patients’ daily lives and make returning to work difficult. He urged stronger integration of neuropsychology into the rehabilitation process and called for standardised cognitive training and practices to improve patients’ conditions.

Patient representatives stressed the pressing need for greater psychological support, especially in co-morbidity cases where treating the main disease can trigger unexpected side effects. They warned that patients’ psychological needs are often overlooked and argued that patients’ concerns and suggestions should be integrated into the therapeutic journey. An example comes from young cancer patients, who frequently fear rehabilitation because of worries about returning to work – a growing challenge as cancer rates rise among younger people.

Key recommendations from the session

• Strengthen Research Infrastructures working to advance precision medicine

• Develop an EU sovereign cloud for medical data

• Invest in secure data repositories to support brain research

In his closing remarks, Denis Horgan, Executive Director, European Alliance for Personalised Medicine, underlined that neurology is a crucial area for personalised medicine, but progress is slowed by fragmented data ecosystems, insufficient longitudinal datasets, and regulatory hurdles. Tech innovations, and AI systems in particular, can serve as powerful data interpreters that can strongly deepen the understanding of patients’ diseases. He emphasised that closer collaboration between brain health initiatives is crucial for overcoming these challenges, and cited EBRAINS as a successful example.

[1] For example, neuro-oncology, epilepsy, stroke, traumatic lesions, Parkinson’s, MS, neurodegenerative diseases.

[2] In brain research, collecting longitudinal patients’ datasets could mean regularly tracking people’s brain scans, cognitive tests, genetic markers, lifestyle factors, or disease progression over a long period of time (months, years, sometimes decades). Brain disorders (e.g., Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, depression, multiple sclerosis) develop over many years. Without long-term data, it’s hard to detect early warning signs, disease trajectories, or treatment impacts.

[3] Longitudinal datasets are necessary to: build predictive models of brain health and disease; develop effective preventive strategies; personalise treatments based on how an individual’s brain changes over time