HEAT-Net (Harvard European Alumni Training Network) is composed of a unique constellation of Harvard-trained European clinicians and researchers with solid track records in the field of neurodegeneration. The HEAT-Net members were trained in the laboratories of four renowned neuroscience laboratories at Harvard Medical School (HMS), headed by Profs Brad Hyman, Rudy Tanzi, Xandra Breakefield and Brian Bacskai. After returning to Europe, the HEAT-Net members felt the need to implement a network that enabled them to maintain the same high-level of academic research, contributing for the training of new generations of scientists, and maintaining strong connections to their mentors at HMS.

An important aim of HEAT-Net is to create a group of young scientists with a broad, yet unique, translational overview of the most common neurodegenerative disorders. This will foster their abilities to form scientific collaborations throughout their professional lives. By focusing around a common topic and by experiencing the strong professional and interpersonal ties between all HEAT-Net partners, the students will be engaged in close collaborative links and will benefit from joint project discussions.