Leading experts from UMC Utrecht’s Brain Center, Elly Hol and Jeroen Pasterkamp, addressed the European Parliament in Brussels on February 24 2026 during a high-level public health hearing on “Brain health: Policy challenges and opportunities to manage neurological diseases.”
Invited to present key findings from a briefing commissioned by the European Parliament, they outlined the growing scale and societal impact of neurological disorders across Europe. Neurological conditions are among the leading causes of disability and present significant policy challenges, as well as opportunities to better integrate research, prevention, care, and innovation across the EU. They emphasized the need for coordinated life-course approaches that connect basic and translational research with health policy to achieve sustainable impact across the EU Member States.
“To tackle brain health effectively, we need policies that bridge science and care across disciplines and borders, enabling both prevention and innovation to reach everyone in need,”
said Elly Hol, summarizing key insights from their contribution to the hearing.
The hearing generated constructive dialogue with Members of the European Parliament, on how the EU can strengthen its approach to brain health and better align research, healthcare, and innovation efforts to create measurable impact and benefits for patients across Europe.
Read more about the hearing and access the full briefing on the European Parliament website.
