The University of Barcelona is consolidating its position at the forefront of European research thanks to the strategic project “VISI-ON-BRAIN: Cutting-edge Human In Vitro and In Silico Biomedical Tools on Brain Disorders”. This is a training and research programme involving 15 PhD researchers focused on developing new-generation human models to advance the study of complex brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. The key point of the initiative is the paradigm shift it proposes, as the study is carried out leaving behind the animal model and seeking a more ethical science, with experimental (in vitro) and computational (in silico) models.

Josep M. Canals, professor at the UB’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, leads this project, which is part of the Horizon Europe programme and has received €4.5 million in funding under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks (MSCA-DN). Canals is a member of the UB Institute of Neurosciences (UBneuro) and director of the Production and Validation Center of Advanced Therapies (Creatio), also at the UB.

Neuroscience: new ethical models for studying human biology

The field of biomedical R&D is undergoing a transformation towards scientific innovation without the use of laboratory animals and the promotion of more ethical and effective science for humans. In Europe, this includes a EC roadmap to phase out animal testing, as well as a call from the European Parliament to accelerate the transition with clearer objectives and timelines. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has outlined a plan to reduce animal testing in preclinical safety studies and to expand new approach methodologies (NAMs), which include advanced computational systems and in vitro methods.

Neuroscience makes this transition mission-critical: the development of therapeutic agents to address neurodegeneration has experienced exceptionally high failure rates, underscoring the need to establish models that better reflect human biology and disease progression. The EU’s most ambitious competitive push — through the ‘Choose Europe for Life Sciences’ strategy and the European Biotechnology Act — reinforces this guideline by translating results from the laboratory to the market, boosting innovation uptakes and accelerating the real-world impact of research.

VISI-ON-BRAIN is designed to close the translational gap by building an integrated chain of predictive, reproducible, and clinically established experimental and computational tools, while training researchers who can operate at the interface of biology, data, engineering, and regulatory relevance.