Modulation of brain ageing through nutrition and healthy lifestyle (NutriBrain) – ERA4Health 2024

The French National Research Agency, in partnership with twenty countries (Austria, Belgium- including Wallonia-Brussels, Flanders-,Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain -including region of Andalusia-, Switzerland and Taiwan and Türkye) is launching the novel international call health and wellbeing under the umbrella of the Partnership ERA4Health (“Fostering a European Research Area for Health”).The total budget for this action is of about 19 million euros.

The aim of the call is to support transnational research projects that focus on the improvement of cognitive brain ageing through nutrition and other lifestyle factors. Thereby it enables scientists from different countries to build a valuable collaboration on interdisciplinary research projects based on complementarities and sharing of expertise in the field of brain ageing, its related disorders, nutrition and lifestyle factors.

Research projects should gain further insights into the modulation of brain aging by lifestyle factors and/or pilot test interventions based on the existing evidence in the literature or upscale existing pilot interventions that will help to lower the risk of cognitive impairment manifestations related to a pathological brain ageing.

Proposals may include one of the following approaches, such as:

• Pilot test interventions that will help to lower the risk of cognitive impairment manifestations related to a pathological brain ageing
• Upscale existing pilot interventions that will help to lower the risk of cognitive impairment manifestations related to a pathological brain ageing.

Proposals may be supplemented by one of the following approaches, such as:

• Mechanistic / experimental research focusing on how specific lifestyle factors influence brain ageing;
• Translational research that will establish proof of concept, in order to support the development of effective health-improvement strategies and/or solutions to promote a healthy brain.

At least one of the following lifestyle factors should be investigated: nutrition (particularly improvements in dietary pattern), physical activity, sleep pattern, social interaction and stress. Researchers should apply a perspective of prevention and public health, taking into consideration large population groups such as age cohorts or relevant subgroups.

Only transnational projects will be funded. The following conditions apply to the composition of consortia:

• Minimum of three eligible and a maximum of five eligible partners from at least three different countries participating in the call.
• No more than two eligible partners from the same country participating in the call will be accepted within one consortium.
• The maximum number of eligible partners can be increased up to six or seven (see table below) if they include one or two partners, respectively, from the following participating countries: Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia.
• Maximum of two collaborators per consortium. Collaborators are self-funded partners: i.e. partners that are not requesting funds in this Joint Transnational Call provided by one of the participating funding organisations (e.g. from non-funding countries or not fundable according to national/regional regulations of the participating funding organisations).

ANR will only fund the French partners of the selected projects. In agreement with ANR policy, funded researchers should respect the guidelines of the Nagoya protocol and consider open access publication of their results.