Prof. Mara Dierssen (PhD, Medicine & Surgery, University of Cantabria) is Group Leader at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG, Barcelona) and researcher at Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute and the Centre for Rare Disease Research. An internationally recognized leader in behavioural genetics and neuropharmacology, she has published over 240 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals and has made seminal contributions to understanding cognitive dysfunction in Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease. She is President of the Spanish Brain Council, where she led the launch of the Spanish Brain Plan, positioning brain health as a national policy priority. At the European level, as Chair of the Trisomy 21 cluster within EBRA and through leadership roles within the European Brain Council, she actively shapes European brain research strategy, policy alignment, and advocacy.