Neurological diseases represent the leading cause of ill health and disability in Europe and globally, placing a huge burden on healthcare systems and societies.
Responding to this urgent need for faster, more precise and more personalised approaches to care, CEREBRIS has officially launched. This is a new European collaborative project led by the Bath Institute for the Augmented Human (IAH) at the University of Bath and backed by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder Open funding scheme.
This project represents a landmark achievement in competitive research funding. CEREBRIS was selected from a highly competitive field, with a success rate of just 2%, and awarded a grant of €8.8 million (£7.6 million), which is nearly three times the programme's indicative budget. The project, which will end in 2030, aims to advance AI-powered stroke care and neurological disease management.
It will combine multimodal data integration, advanced neuroimaging, and multi-agentic artificial intelligence (AI) to develop tools that support clinicians, improve access to actionable insights, and contribute to more personalised care for patients affected by stroke and neurological conditions.
The scale of the problem
Predictions indicate that one third of individuals will experience a neurological condition in their lifetime. A recent worldwide study estimated that the global direct costs in 2019 for 24 neurological conditions exceeded US$1.7 trillion (£1.3 trillion). Stroke and dementia accounted for 30% of the total global costs. If the current trends in stroke burden continue, by 2030 the cost of stroke to the global economy will be over US$1 trillion (£760 billion).
Stroke, the primary focus of the CEREBRIS project, remains a devastating condition. Around the world, 12.2 million new strokes happen every year, amounting to one every three seconds. In Europe alone, around 1.1 million strokes happen every year. These account for 460,000 deaths and leave millions more with long-term disability, according to the World Health Organization and European health data.
The scope of CEREBRIS
CEREBRIS brings together a multidisciplinary consortium of 14 partners across Europe, including experts in clinical research, healthcare, AI, neuroimaging, digital health, social sciences and patient-centred innovation.
Through this collaboration, the project’s long-term vision aims to bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI research and real-world unmet clinical and patient needs.
Over the coming years, CEREBRIS will focus on developing a proof-of-concept system validated in clinical environments.
At the core of the project is a set of connected AI systems that support patients throughout their care. These tools can monitor brain signals in real time, measure movement and physical ability, combine different types of data, and even simulate patterns of brain injury using information from wearable devices.
A new type of system will allow hospitals to combine their data securely without sharing sensitive patient information. This means researchers and developers can safely train and test AI models while keeping patient privacy protected.
Professor Damien Coyle, principal investigator for the CEREBRIS project and IAH director said: “The Bath Institute for the Augmented Human is delighted to lead CEREBRIS as project coordinator. This project has the potential to deliver significant impact in stroke and neurological care.”
“Our team at Bath be delivering a major technical component of the project that brings together Bath’s cross-faculty expertise in neurotechnology, AI, visual computing, motion capture, and advanced biomechanics.”
Dr Jibraan Esoof, project coordinator and research physician at the IAH said: “I am proud to have this substantial project backed by the European Innovation Council under the Pathfinder Open call. As a medical doctor and entrepreneur, this is an outstanding milestone. This is where ambition meets the right people, at the right time, for the right mission.
“Our consortium is among the first challenge-based projects funded at this level. This support will accelerate our work in next-generation diagnostics and allow us training and refining our AI models, addressing critical unmet needs in neurological disease. Our team brings together the very best of Europe in the realm of scientific, clinical and engineering expertise – driven to deliver on our goal.
“Our single, united purpose is to develop and translate medical devices that have the potential to transform care for stroke survivors in Europe and beyond.”
Alongside the University of Bath, consortium members include: University College Dublin, Ireland; University of Oslo, Norway; AIBILI – Associação para Investigação Biomédica e Inovação em Luz e Imagem, Portugal; SANO Science – SANO Centrum Zindywidualizowanej Medycyny Obliczeniowej Międzynarodowa Fundacja, Poland; Icometrix NV, Belgium; Stroke Alliance for Europe, Belgium; Vidavo S.A., Greece; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany; Wise Angle Consulting SL, Spain; g.tec Medical Engineering GmbH, Austria; Universität Zürich, Switzerland; and Lake Lucerne Institute AG, Switzerland.