NeuroAI: gaps, challenges, and opportunities
A discussion on the intersections of neuroscience and artificial intelligence, highlighting current challenges, knowledge gaps, and emerging opportunities for progress.
Who You’ll Be Hearing From
This session brings together expert voices from across the EBRAINS community and beyond. Discover the people sharing their insights, research, and perspectives on the topic.


I hold a PhD in psychology and neuroscience, with a strong background in statistics and brain network modeling. My research began at the Rotman Research Institute at the University of Toronto, where I developed a deep interest in aging and cognition. Over the years, I’ve led international collaborations that resulted in The Virtual Brain (thevirtualbrain.org), a globally adopted platform for simulating large-scale brain dynamics using personalized data. I’ve joined Simon Fraser University in 2022, where I serve as Director of the Institute for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology. My vision is to bridge neuroscience research with real-world impact by pursuing two key goals: (1) integrating personalized brain modeling into clinical decision-making, and (2) creating a cloud-based platform that makes these tools accessible for research, education, and clinical use. I’m particularly focused on building interdisciplinary and community-engaged approaches to improve brain health across the lifespan.


Martin is a tenure-track assistant professor at EPFL where he aims to understand the brain in computational terms. To achieve this goal, he bridges research in Machine Learning, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Science. He initiated the community-wide Brain-Score platform for evaluating models on their neural and behavioral alignment, and built state-of-the-art models such as CORnet, VOneNet, and TopoLM. Martin completed his PhD at MIT with Jim DiCarlo, following Bachelor's and Master's degrees in computer science at TUM, LMU, and UNA. Previously he worked at Harvard, MetaMind/Salesforce, Oracle, and co-founded two startups. Martin is actively advancing NeuroAI into translational technologies as a scientific advisor to startups. Among others, his work has been recognized in the news at Science magazine, BBC, Quanta, and Scientific American; and with awards such as the Neuro-Irv and Helga Cooper Open Science Prize, the Google.org Impact Challenge prize, and the Takeda fellowship in AI + Health.