Supporting Paris Brain Institute means assisting over 700 researchers who are committed to improving the daily lives of one billion people and inventing treatments that could, tomorrow, change their everyday lives.

Taking action, thinking, learning, walking, dreaming… none of these would be possible without the brain.

Paris Brain Institute is an international scientific and medical research center located in the heart of the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. It brings together doctors, researchers, patients and entrepreneurs with the aim of understanding the brain and developing treatments for the diseases that affect it so that patients can benefit from them as quickly as possible. This original and unique model was imagined at the time the Institute was created in 2010 by Professors Gérard Saillant, Yves Agid and Olivier Lyon-Caen.

The Richard Mille brand has fostered the work of Paris Brain Institute with active support since 2012. Richard Mille made a personal commitment in 2019, when he became a member of the Institute’s Campaign Committee. This year, the brand doubled down with the creation of the Richard Mille Donors’ Club.

“I was approached by my friend Jean Todt, who played a crucial part in the founding of the Paris Brain Institute, while Gérard Saillant, the Institute’s president, convinced me of the need to support this cause, to play a part in it by supporting the institution in a lasting and reliable manner to ensure the means to make long-term projections and greater visibility,” explains Richard Mille. “Just a few years ago, the Institute had to campaign to recruit scientists. Today, it receives unsolicited applications from top researchers seeking to come and work there. In my view, it is our responsibility to support this success and level of performance by helping the Institute function optimally. Supporting a structure as advanced and promising as the ICM is a noble cause. Lending our support to this research helps saves lives and improve many existences.”

Brain diseases affect nearly one billion people worldwide. With the ageing of the population, this figure is set to increase.

Pushing the boundaries of research

Paris Brain Institute’s approach is founded on the principle of personalised, preventive, participatory and predictive medicine. At the forefront of brain science, the Institute is ranked 2nd among the 35 international institutions active in the field of neurological research. It also fosters connections between patients, researchers, physicians and entrepreneurs. With its start-up incubator, it is the first innovation accelerator dedicated to disorders and health of the nervous system in France and aspires to become the leading hub for therapeutic innovations dedicated to the brain in Europe.

“In terms of how well we understand the human brain, we are still in the Middle Ages,” says Professor Gérard Saillant, President of Paris Brain Institute. “The Institute’s objective is to respond to a major challenge for the health of humanity: understanding and treating the brain. Thanks to technological advances, artificial intelligence, big data and the acceleration of progress in nanotechnology, we are witnessing exponential progress in our understanding of how our brains works. We need to step up our efforts, develop new skills and innovate, time and time again, in our research models.”

The brain is therefore still largely unknown and the development of new treatments is a real challenge. Scientific and therapeutic research is imperative. It requires a space to bring together knowledge and to create a dialogue between disciplines. These exchanges contribute to the expansion of knowledge and the design of new treatments. Donor support is essential to move forward and accelerate innovation.

Supporting Paris Brain Institute means assisting over 700 researchers who are committed to improving the daily lives of one billion people and inventing treatments that could, tomorrow, change their everyday lives.