BrainVision Center research hub could bring breakthroughs

At the BrainVision Center (BVC) research hub - founded by the Hungarian state together with Femtonics Ltd. and the NeurofotonIQa Knowledge Centre Foundation - industrial and engineering expertise comes together with brain research and medicine. The institution operates as one of the world’s leading human translational centers, where researchers develop new therapeutic and diagnostic tools. The laboratory is also launching several joint projects with the Basel-based Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology led by Professor Botond Roska.

According to Balázs Rózsa, founder of the BVC and head of a research group at the HUN-REN Institute of Experimental Medicine (HUN-REN KOKI), establishing the new center is a major step forward for Hungary’s high-tech industry. “Alongside our own research, we also operate as a service hub. We welcome contracted researchers, companies, and students in PhD and postdoctoral programs, and provide them access to the most advanced neurophotonics tools.”

“I’m proud that through world-class projects we’re helping drive further progress in Hungarian neuroscience and biotechnology. Our goal is to support the retention of a top-level domestic research base, and to encourage young Hungarian scientists to return home,” he added. 

As part of the project, the team has developed - among other things - a high-throughput automated robotic microscope capable of efficiently selecting AAV vectors designed for therapeutic procedures in the human retina. The method represents a breakthrough on a global scale: using fast, 3D acousto-optical microscopy, it measures the transfer function (input–output characteristics) of retinal samples and identifies the AAV vector constructs that restore human retinal function most effectively.

This approach also allows for high-speed, parallel measurement of the complex neuronal networks spatially embedded in human brain and retina samples. Notably, compared with current microscopes, it can measure (and simultaneously activate) networks of cells and their projections more than a million times faster, while delivering a significantly better signal-to-noise ratio, both in vitro and in vivo.

By combining the new laser-scanning technique with molecular biology tools and human tissue cultures, the project will be able to sift through thousands of therapeutic options and pinpoint the vision-restoration method that is both the most effective and comes with the fewest side effects. Beyond that, in the foreseeable future it could bring breakthroughs in diagnosing and treating a range of inherited and acquired diseases of the central nervous system, such as depression, dementia, and epilepsy. It may also make it possible to restore functions lost due to accident-related brain injuries.

The project, implemented between May 1, 2022 and June 30, 2025, received a total of 6.2 billion forints in non-refundable funding from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund. Further details about the project, identified as 2020-2.1.1-ED-2022-00208, are available on the company’s website.