Speakers of European Brain Health Summit 2026

Paul Boon is Past-President of the European Academy of Neurology, a senior full professor of neurology and Director of 4Brain at Ghent University, Belgium. Prof. Boon is Chair of the Division of Head, Movement and Senses, as well as professor of Neuromodulation, at Eindhoven University of Technology. He obtained his medical degree from Ghent University and received additional training at Yale University. He is a Fellow of the European Academy of Neurology (FEAN). Prof. Boon’s main neurological interests are clinical epilepsy, neurological sleep disorders, quantitative EEG and MEG analysis and basic mechanisms of neuromodulation. He founded the 4Brain Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Neuropsychology at Ghent University. 

Barbara Casolla is full Professor of Neurology, Head of the Stroke Unit and consultant Neurologist at Nice University Hospital, France. Her research is focused on prognosis of severe stroke, including intracerebral haemorrhage, and evaluation of clinical and neuroimaging predictors of long-term outcome. She has experience in fundamental research, she is local PI in international clinical trials on acute phase stroke treatments and secondary prevention, and she leads translational and clinical research projects funded by French National Agency. She is chair of working group “teaching and communication” within the French National Stroke Research Network, she is member of the ESO Board of Directors, Chair of the ESO Stroke Educational Platform (eSTEP), member of the editorial team of the European Stroke Journal and of European Journal of Neurology. She is also member of the French College de l'Académie Nationale de Médecine. In 2025, she has been elected as co-chair of the Brain Health Mission of the European Academy of Neurology. 

Frédéric Destrebecq is the Executive Director of the European Brain Council since October 2014. In this capacity, he is responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership while managing the day to day operations of EBC and its ongoing relationships with its member associations and other stakeholders, as well as representing the organisation in various European and national forums. Fred holds a Master Degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium). He also studied at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Paris) and University of Wales College (Cardiff), in the framework of the former EU Socrates exchange programme. Prior to EBC, Fred served the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) as Chief Executive Officer, and previously as Director for European Affairs. 

Andrea Fiorillo (MD, PhD) is Full Professor of Psychiatry in Naples (Italy) at the University of Campania “L. Vanvitelli”. He is currently President of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA), President of the Italian Society for Social Psychiatry (SIPS), and President of the College of Italian University Professors of Psychiatry. He is Editor-in-Chief of European Psychiatry. He has authored more than 350 scientific papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has edited more than 20 books and numerous book chapters in the field of mental health. He has lectured extensively abroad. His main research interests include clinical and social psychiatry, particularly in the fields of schizophrenia and affective disorders, academic psychiatry, psychiatric epidemiology, prevention of mental disorders, and the promotion of physical and mental health in people with severe mental illnesses.  

Radek Frič has been an active neurosurgeon since 1997 and has been affiliated with Dept. of Neurosurgery at Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet in Oslo, Norway, as a senior consultant neurosurgeon since 2005. He is also a leader of the Paediatric Neurosurgical Research Group at the Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo/Oslo University Hospital, and a clinical researcher at the KG Jebsen Centre for Brain Fluid Research at the University of Oslo. He is currently serving as Chair of the Section of Pediatric Neurosurgery in the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies. He is also a member of the executive boards of both the European and the International Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery. His clinical and scientific interests include cerebrovascular, tumor, and pediatric neurosurgery. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters, and is a frequent presenter at international scientific meetings as well as a lecturer in postgraduate courses of pediatric neurosurgery.  

Ming Lim undertook his undergraduate medical training at the University Nottingham, UK. Following completing his paediatric neurology training in South London, he began his doctoral research fellowship studying the neuroimmune response in childhood neurodegenerative disorders. He is now Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital and Professor of Paediatric Neurology at King’s College London. He is Head of the Children’s Neuroscience Department; Research Lead for Evelina London Hospital; and Associate Director of the NIHR GSTT Clinical Research Facility. His ongoing research has contributed to the important characterisation and understanding of childhood neuroinflammatory disorders. He leads and contributes to international efforts to improve the diagnosis and management of childhood neuroinflammatory disorders. Additionally, he works in efforts to improve multinational collaborative childhood research in his various roles in connect4children, European Paediatric Neurology Society and charities.  

Elena Moro is the current President of the European Academy of Neurology. She is Professor of Neurology at the Grenoble Alpes University, Grenoble, France. She graduated in medicine at the University of Trieste, Italy, and completed her residency in neurology at the Rome Catholic University, after which she completed a fellowship in movement disorders in Grenoble, France. She has been Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Toronto from 2002 to 2012, when she moved back to Grenoble, She is currently director of the Movement Disorders Center and head of the Department of Psychiatry, Neurology, Neurological Rehabilitation and Forensic Medicine at the CHU of Grenoble. Her main research  is focused on restoring brain function in patients with movement disorders, especially with deep brain stimulation. 

Tomás Ryan is Professor in Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He completed his PhD in molecular neuroscience under the supervision of Seth Grant at the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK in 2010. Following a year as Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, University Cambridge, he relocated to the USA to work as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the group of Susumu Tonegawa (Nobel Laureate, 1987) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT he was centrally involved in the development of novel genetic methods that allow for the labelling and manipulation of specific memory engrams in the rodent brain. He started his research group in 2017 at Trinity College Dublin, where he is based in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology and is also a Principal Investigator at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. He is Chair of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Advocacy Committee, a Board Member of the European Brain Council EBC), and a member of the US Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Government and Public Affairs Committee. 

Antonella Santuccione Chadha is a medical doctor and global leader in neuroscience, psychiatry, and precision medicine. Her career spans academia, major pharmaceutical companies (Roche, Biogen), and health-tech start-ups (Altoida), where she led diverse, multicultural teams and mentored women scientists across continents. As Co-Founder and CEO of the Women’s Brain Foundation, she is redefining how science and innovation serve women’s health — promoting brain health equity through science, innovation, and collaboration. Recognised among Switzerland’s Top 100 Women in Business and recipient of multiple international honors — including the World Sustainability Award, the Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award, the Women Empowering Award, the Katherinenturm Project Award and in 2025, the Italian "Gentile da Fabriano" prize — Dr. Santuccione Chadha continues to translate scientific progress into social impact, inspiring a new generation of changemakers to lead with evidence and empathy. 

Pinar Soysal, MD, is a board-certified geriatrician and currently a Professor in the Department of Geriatric Medicine at Bezmialem Vakif University in Istanbul, Türkiye. Her research primarily focuses on epidemiology and the most prevalent conditions affecting older adults. Specifically, her main areas of interest include common geriatric syndromes, dementia, malnutrition, frailty, and polypharmacy. She has authored more than 300 articles published in national and international peer-reviewed journals and has presented numerous abstracts at both national and international conferences. Dr. Soysal served as Co-Leader of the Brain Health and Dementia Special Interest Group of the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) for five years. Prof. Pinar Soysal has been selected as a member of EuGMS and is going to take this responsibility in 2026-2027. She is also a graduate of the Clinical Research Leadership Program at Harvard Medical School. 

Angelika Winzig is a Member of the European Parliament since 2019 and sits with the Group of the European People’s Party (EPP). In the current parliamentary term, she is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). She also serves as a substitute member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) and is part of the Delegation for relations with India. Before entering the European Parliament, Dr. Winzig was a member of the Austrian National Council from 2013 to 2019, where she worked on economic, foreign affairs, defence, budget and finance committees. She holds a doctorate from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and has extensive professional experience as an entrepreneur and manager. In the European Parliament, her work focuses on industry, innovation, economic competitiveness and the strengthening of small and medium-sized enterprises.