EP BrainHealth Call 1: Biological, social and environmental factors that impact the trajectory of brain health across the lifespan – in the field of neurological, mental and sensory disorders

Applications must be interdisciplinary and address at least two of the three factors impacting brain health trajectories in the field of neurological, mental and sensory disorders:

1. Biological factors, e.g. genetics, epigenetics, -omics, neuroplasticity, inflammation, infection, synaptogenesis, circuits, vascular factors, sensory impairment, co-morbidities; 
2. Lifestyle and social factors, e.g. exercise/activity, nutrition, sleep, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, work (income, employment), socio-economic background/status, race/ethnicity, sex and gender, education, safety, social interactions (family/friends), access to healthcare, stress, trauma, migration.
3. Environmental factors, e.g. pollution/contaminants, urbanicity, disasters, pandemics, war/conflicts, climate change, microbiota, nature.

In addition, applications must investigate at least two of the following aspects:

1. Mechanisms of action of the identified factors; 
2. Early recognition, diagnosis and prognosis linked to the identified factors; 
3. Prevention/treatments/interventions/technological development/care and support linked to the identified factors.

Furthermore, the following aspects are important in the context of this call:

1. Applications should investigate how factors impact brain health trajectories along the life course. 
2. Outcomes benefiting the quality of life of patients and their carers are of special importance and should be explicitly defined and stated.
3. Applications focusing on disability, gender, ethical, cultural and socio-economic aspects are encouraged.
4. Approaches such as integration of multimodal data, use of accessible wearable technologies (e.g. mobile devices), artificial intelligence/digital twins and drug repurposing are particularly welcome.