Crossing bridges: connecting people and purpose

As we were wrapping up an earlier conversation with Champalimaud Foundation (CF) Clinical Director Professor António Parreira, I mentioned that there would be a sister article featuring one of his colleagues, Joe Paton, Director of Neuroscience Research at CF. The plan was to ask the same questions, more or less, to explore whether the cultural outlooks of the clinical and research branches aligned after 20 years. I invited António Parreira to open Joe’s interview with a question.

António Parreira took a moment to think before choosing to focus on one of the most human challenges of building community: creating the conditions where people from different worlds feel comfortable sharing openly. His question, “How can we make doctors more capable of sharing their concerns and intellectual questions with investigators?”, speaks not just to logistics, but to trust, connection and shared purpose.

For Joe Paton, the question goes straight to the heart of what he has been building: a community that connects people and ideas across boundaries.

“António Champalimaud said his goal was to establish a foundation dedicated to scientific research in the field of medicine,” Joe recalls. “But from the beginning, the Foundation was divided into research and the clinic as separate branches, for understandable reasons. If the aim is to connect science and medicine, that initial split makes things difficult, but we are working to bridge that gap.”

Nearly two decades later, Champalimaud Research (CR) has grown into a vibrant ecosystem of labs studying the neural mechanisms of behaviour. Most recently, Joe and neurologist John Krakauer launched the new Centre for Restorative Neurotechnology, bringing together neuroscience, robotics and AI. “We’re thinking about how technology can help us understand and restore function,” he says. “It’s an exciting time because these are questions that connect science and medicine.”

Joe envisions an institution in which clinical and research areas are fully aligned. “United research and clinical activities encourage communication from the outset; separating these branches makes it harder. Instead of grafting two mature systems together, ideally they should grow from the same root,” Joe observes. Green shoots are already emerging. “We’ve been working closely with the breast unit, for example, on behavioural aspects of health in cancer, and the Digital Surgery Lab — which includes one of our own graduates — shares space in the Neurotechnology Warehouse.”

Communicating the value of fundamental research is equally important. “Curiosity-driven discovery is the foundation of applied science,” he says. “Levodopa, the main treatment for Parkinson’s disease, came from scientists investigating chemical neurotransmission, not from anyone studying Parkinson’s directly. Curiosity-driven work eventually leads to practical breakthroughs.”

When Joe arrived at CF seventeen years ago, it was still in its infancy, and he was not long out of school himself. “I was 29,” he recalls. “Zach Mainen recruited me after we met at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. I thought, why not? I’ll go for five years, build a research programme, then head back to the States.” Seventeen years later, he’s still here. “I met my wife here, my kids were born here… and we’re still building that same institute.”

The founding team’s clarity of purpose shaped the culture. “Zach, Marta [Moita] and Rui [Costa] were deliberate about the kind of community they wanted to build,” Joe says. “Everyone we recruited came from top research institutions — people willing to take a leap on an untested institute.”

Structural choices helped foster collaboration. “If a piece of equipment could serve multiple labs, we centralised it,” he explains. “That shared infrastructure encourages people to share ideas and resources.” And beyond the lab, social initiatives like retreats, internal seminars and Friday Happy-Hour gatherings forge links.

For Joe, community is participatory, not imposed. “We make it clear the culture isn’t static; everyone contributes to shaping it,” he says, adding, “We [scientists] know that we can’t make progress alone — curiosity and innovation are collective efforts.” Creating cohorts in graduate programmes helps students form cross-disciplinary bonds from day one. “Once that flywheel starts spinning, it becomes self-sustaining.”

Recalling one particular moment that captured the spirit perfectly, Joe highlights a CR symposium titled The Brain within the Body within the World. “It brought together basic scientists and clinicians to explore how the brain interacts with the body and its environment,” he says. “It really embodied that cross-disciplinary spirit.”

Asked what values guide the Foundation, Joe lists respect, belief in the wisdom of the group, and strength in diversity. Core funding allows teams to focus on quality rather than quantity, while work-life balance initiatives ensure people thrive, not just produce.

Looking ahead, Joe hopes for a vibrant ecosystem of scientists, engineers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs, with discoveries flowing back to patients. Technology should enhance, not replace, human connection: “If AI tools can take care of note-taking or data summarising, doctors can focus on being present with patients. It’s about freeing people to do what’s most human.”

As the Foundation celebrates twenty years, this daily work of connection remains central. “Community isn’t something you build once,” Joe says. “It’s something you build every day.”
 

Joe Paton, Director of Neuroscience Research and Principal Investigator at the Learning Lab, Champalimaud Foundation

Text by John Lee, Content Developer of the Champalimaud Foundation’s Communication, Events and Outreach Team

Full 20 Years, 20 Stories Collection here.