On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 9.00 am the opening ceremony of the Brain Research and Integrative Neuroscience Network for COVID-19 (BRAINN) Project will be held at the University of Cyprus . BRAINN aims, through interdisciplinary research, innovative methods and technologies of applied neuroscience, to characterise the effects of prolonged (long) COVID-19 on brain health and to upgrade methods of assessment, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of patients with difficulties in cognitive skills or /and in mental health due to the disease.

The BRAINN project, with a total budget of 1,499,960 euros, secured funding from the European Commission and the UK Research and Innovation Council in the context of competitive proposals for Twinning projects, which are part of the “Widening Participation & Strengthening the ERA” priority of the Framework Programme of the EU for Research and Innovation “Horizon Europe” 2021-2027 (#101079001). As stated by the coordinator of the BRAINN project, Professor Fofi Constantinidou and director of the Center for Applied Neuroscience (CAN), “the programme is in line with the mission of the CAN to create innovative methodologies that contribute to cutting-edge research and at the same time promote health and quality of life. Our research team was immediately activated with the onset of the pandemic in April 2020 to document the effects of the pandemic and incarceration on mental health. The need to study the effects of COVID-19 on the nervous system in people who contracted the virus became apparent in the first weeks after the start of the pandemic. The correct diagnosis and treatment of SARS-CoV-2, however, is a challenge for the scientific community, since the prolonged illness causes more than 200 symptoms that affect more than 10 organs of the body, with an episodic pattern. The project, through interdisciplinary collaboration, will contribute to the creation of personalized treatments in order to reduce the health burden created by the disease COVID-19, highlighting the contribution of the University of Cyprus and Cyprus more broadly,

 As part of its activities, the BRAINN programme will upgrade the capabilities for cutting-edge research and innovation at the Center for Applied Neuroscience of the University of Cyprus in collaboration with three internationally renowned partners in neuroscience and the study of the brain more broadly. The research teams at Maastricht University, King’s College London and Ghent University have world-renowned expertise in neuroimaging, non-invasive neurostimulation and digitized neurocognitive assessment methods, as well as an active interest in researching cognitive and mental health difficulties. , as they arise after the COVID-19 disease. As stated by Professor Fofi Constantinidou, “This rich know-how will also be transferred to Cyprus through activities such as workshops and summer schools that will be open to the research community of our country. In addition, BRAINN will contribute to the creation of a critical mass of researchers with interdisciplinary expertise. The knowledge and methodologies generated through BRAINN actions will be applicable to other diseases that affect brain health, even after the disease COVID-19 has been eradicated.”

The opening ceremony is open to the public. Declaration of participation until 20/1/2023 via the link https://forms.gle/1ySAeUqTq1Q1ab178 . More information at the email: BRAINN@ucy.ac.cy , the website: www.cancyprus and the phone: 22 89 5190.

Source: The University of Cyprus I Latest News (https://bit.ly/3j2skV1)