EMEA President Rym Ayadi, as well as Members of the Board of Advisors Harris Eyre and Paweł Świeboda, engaged at the inaugural meeting on “Systemic Investing in the Brain Economy” which took place on 29 May 2024 in Geneva, on the margins of this year’s World Health Assembly. The meeting was an unprecedented gathering of scientists, innovators, funders, policymakers, and philanthropists to discuss developing a bold vision of a brain-positive economy transition aka Brain Economy. The Brain Economy is a novel concept, which extends to policies and practices that cultivate brain capital by ensuring brain health and the development of brain skills across an individual’s lifespan.
Given the interdisciplinary nature of the endeavor as well as fiscal pressures requiring optimizing public policy interventions, an approach based on systemic investing is necessary. The meeting featured keynote remarks from Shiva Dustdar, Dean and Director of the European Investment Bank Institute, who provided an overview of the available funding instruments and lessons of the InnovFin Infectious Diseases Finance Facility, and the Global Polio Eradication Programme.
The need to engage unconventional funders like public pension funds, and to develop public-private-philanthropic partnerships was noted. During the discussion, drivers for the investment case in the Brain Economy were identified, drawing on the enormous opportunity and challenge resulting from the growing significance and awareness of brain-related issues. Powerful analysis of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) provided an important context for the exchange, with pre-eliminary data pointing to the $2.2 bln USD annual economic impact of brain and mental disorders at a societal level. The significance of demographic shifts for disorders whose prevalence is higher in an older population was seen as necessitating urgent anticipatory and preventive action.
Harris Eyre noted, “The Brain Economy transition is vital in the coming years as we need optimal energy, creativity and adaptability to drive the clean energy and digital transitions. Therefore, we wish to empower stakeholders across society and make it clear every citizen has a role to play whether in education, health care, child care, social production, finance or other areas.”
Rym Ayadi noted, “It was agreed that a systemic approach to impact investing, anchored in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles, should integrate brain capital principles to support the transition to a Brain Economy. By investing in initiatives that enhance brain, mental, and cognitive health, adapt education and new skills, and innovate in neuroscience-based solutions, impact investors can nurture healthy brains and the intellectual and emotional well-being of the population. This approach not only aligns with sustainable and ethical practices but also fosters the development of a knowledge-based economy, where human ingenuity and mental assets drive economic growth and societal progress.”
“The meeting launched a reflection process on the need for a new investment initiative, the details of which will be presented at the UN Science Summit Plenary on the Brain Economy, which EMEA will co-host on 18 September 2024 in New York, together with the Brain Capital Alliance, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and NeuroCentury,” noted Pawel Swieboda “The initiative will focus on taxonomy of Brain Economy investments, metrics and determinants of impact, as well as identifying a range of high-impact interventions, starting with pilot projects.” The reflection is an open one and EMEA welcomes insights and contributions of interested parties.
Note: This high-level dialogue also included representatives from the following organizations: the World Health Organization, the American Heart Association, Harvard University, the Swedish Brain Association, the Finnish Brain Association, McKinsey Health Institute, Lundbeck, The University of Sydney, Kokoro, the Coalition for Mental Health Investing, the Future Mental Health Collaborative, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, ORYGEN, Novo Nordisk, the Technical University of Munich, Grand Challenges Canada, Wellcome Trust, Parasym, and the Swiss Brain Health Plan.
