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Collaboration to promote neurological research—the European Brain Council experience

Nature Clinical Practice Neurology volume 3, pages 298–299 (2007)Cite this article

Heart disease, cancer and AIDS are always making the headlines. Heart and cancer associations have a large financial turnover, and cardiology and oncology congresses draw many more participants than do neurology congresses. An extensive study of brain research funding in Europe, conducted by the European Brain Council (EBC), concluded that brain research is poorly funded compared with, for example, cancer research.1 Given the burden of brain diseases and the enormous importance of understanding normal brain functions, this is really quite unsatisfactory. But why is brain research so poorly funded? I am convinced that it is because the many fields of brain disease and brain research are never promoted as whole. In the clinic, patients are divided between psychiatry, neurology and neurosurgery. Research is similarly divided, and there is also a division between basic and clinical neuroscience. With regard to patient associations, many countries have some 25 different associations within neurology, compared with only one heart association. The field of psychiatry might sometimes be large enough to be heard by decision makers, but neurology is certainly not. To promote the need for research funding, however, all stakeholders should preferably work together.

Within clinical medicine, the future lies in ever increasing specialization. The hugely increased body of knowledge within neurology, psychiatry and neurosurgery dictates that no single person can now be fully competent over a large clinical area. Clinical specialization and subspecialization is clearly the way forward in terms of patient care. Decision makers, however, cannot deal with so many different fractions, but request major umbrella-type organizations with which they can communicate. Joint efforts are essential not only for attracting research funding, but also for developing frameworks for the prevention and treatment of disease, providing advice on ethical issues, improving medical curricula and running public awareness campaigns.

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  1. Department of Neurology N39, Glostrup Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Nordre Ringvej 57, 2600 Glostrup, Denmark jeol@glo.regionh.dk

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  1. J Olesen is Professor of Neurology at the Copenhagen University Hospital Glostrup in Glostrup, Denmark.,

    Jes Olesen

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Olesen, J. Collaboration to promote neurological research—the European Brain Council experience. Nat Rev Neurol 3, 298–299 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneuro0505

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