BRAINS FOR BRAIN FOUNDATION ONLUS

Their core work

Brains for Brain Foundation is an Italian non-profit (ONLUS) based in Padova focused on supporting brain disease research and raising public awareness around neurological conditions. In H2020, the foundation participated exclusively as a third party in Marie Skłodowska-Curie training networks — a role typically filled by patient organizations, advocacy groups, or dissemination partners rather than laboratory research groups. Their involvement in BtRAIN (blood-brain barrier research) and NANOSTEM (nanomaterials for neural stem cell drug delivery) suggests they bridge the gap between scientific research communities and patients or the broader public. As a Foundation ONLUS, their real-world contribution likely centers on outreach, patient engagement, and communicating complex neuroscience in accessible terms.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both projects fall within neuroscience and ran in overlapping periods (2015-2022), making a sharp early-vs-late contrast difficult to draw. The earlier project, BtRAIN, focused on fundamental brain barrier biology and researcher training; the later project, NANOSTEM, moved toward applied nanomedicine and drug delivery for neural conditions. This suggests a gradual shift from foundational neuroscience toward translational and therapeutic directions, consistent with a patient foundation increasingly interested in tangible treatment pathways.

The foundation appears to be aligning itself with translational neuroscience — moving from basic training networks toward projects with a therapeutic end goal, which makes it a plausible partner for future consortia targeting drug delivery or neurological disease treatment.

How they like to work

The foundation has never led an H2020 project and has always participated as a third party — the lowest-commitment role in a consortium, typically covering dissemination, patient engagement, or ethical oversight. This suggests they are a niche add-on rather than a core scientific driver. Their 31 partners across 12 countries from just two projects indicates they join well-networked training consortia, but there is no evidence of repeated partnerships or a tight inner circle.

Despite only two projects, the foundation touched 31 unique consortium partners across 12 countries, reflecting the broad, multi-institutional nature of MSCA training networks. No geographic concentration is evident, and the network spans European academic and research institutions rather than industry.

What sets them apart

As a patient-facing non-profit foundation in neuroscience, Brains for Brain fills a role that research institutes and universities cannot easily replicate: connecting scientific projects to patients, caregivers, and the public. For MSCA training networks — which are required to demonstrate societal impact — a foundation with credibility in brain disease advocacy is a concrete asset. Their location in Padova also places them near one of Italy's strongest neuroscience academic clusters.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BtRAIN
  An MSCA-ITN-ETN training network on brain barriers — a fundamental and clinically relevant topic — where the foundation's presence signals a patient-advocacy or public-engagement function within an otherwise academic consortium.
• NANOSTEM
  Focused on nanomaterials for neural stem cell drug delivery, this project represents the foundation's most applied and therapeutically relevant collaboration to date.