CEN Kolloquium: Agustín Ibáñez, The Brain Health Synercome

Despite unprecedented advances in omics, neuroimaging, and data science, brain healthresearch remains deeply fragmented, limiting our capacity to predict, prevent, or modifytrajectories of brain aging and disease. In this keynote, I introduce the Brain HealthSynercome as a forward-looking scientific horizon rather than a finalized framework. TheSynercome calls for moving beyond isolated data layers toward synergistic modeling thatintegrates genetic, molecular, neural, bodily, environmental, social, and cultural dimensionsof brain health. My research brings together whole-body health, exposomic factors, andcomputational modeling to understand accelerated aging and dementia across global settings.I examine how physical, social, and sociopolitical exposures interact with neurodegeneration,cardiovascular integrity, and allostatic interoception to shape brain vulnerability andresilience. To quantify these cross-level interactions, multimodal aging clocks spanningneuroimaging, epigenetics, electrophysiology, language, behavior, and exposomic profiles,can be combined with biophysical models of excitatory–inhibitory balance and neurovasculardynamics. Across international cohorts (particularly in underrepresented populations) thiswork demonstrates that exposomic adversity and systemic health exert measurable andsubstantial effects on accelerated brain aging and dementia risk. I argue that the centralchallenge we face is not data scarcity, but disconnection between omics and phenotypes,between exposomes and lived experience, and between biological mechanisms and socialcontext. I will discuss how generative models, federated data infrastructures, and hybridtheory-driven and data-driven approaches can help capture cross-level dependencies,feedback loops, and emergent dynamics. The Synercome functions as a heuristic metamodeldesigned to integrate multilevel global data into personalized predictions, fosteringpopulation inclusion, multimodal integration, diagnostic precision, and equitable, context-sensitive innovation.

Speaker bio: Agus Ibáñez is a global leader in brain health, dementia, and translational neuroscience. His research has pioneered integrative frameworks linking brain health across biological, social, and environmental dimensions, using computational modeling, multimodal neuroimaging, and precision health approaches to improve diagnostics and disease characterization. He has developed innovative brain-phenotype models that reveal the impact of structural inequalities and the exposome on brain health, helping bridge neuroscience, clinical practice, and public policy. He serves as Scientific Director of BrainLat, Director of Core Scientific Assets at the Barcelona Beta Brain Research Center, and Professor of Global Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute. He has secured major international funding and published more than 500 scientific papers in leading journals. Ibáñez has founded major international research consortia across Latin America and leads global collaborations advancing equitable, scalable solutions for brain health and dementia worldwide.

Join online via WebEx: https://mpib-berlin.webex.com/mpib-berlin/j.php?MTID=maff3dee0ad54cb921191ff33d0b92347

Meeting number: 2744 645 6180

Password: ArpQMePJ352