Registration is open for the new CAS in Medication Safety starting in October 2023!

Recognizing and tackling practical challenges related to medication safety is key to reduce preventable harm to patients; participants of the unique certificate program will be trained by an interprofessional expert board to initiate and lead processes improving medication safety in their institutions.

Sexual health and rights under pressure – resistance and challenges

Medicus Mundi Switzerland Conference: 19 April 2023 in Bern – In countries around the world, sexual and reproductive rights are under pressure and the right to self-determination especially of women is threatened. In some regions, religious fundamentalists are even mobilizing against sexual and reproductive rights. Moreover, there is a movement in various political milieus to question LGBTQIA+ communities and women's rights, including the right to abortion.

Researchers working to address the SDGs convened in Thailand to explore decoloniality in research and education

Dr. Harvy Joy Liwanag of ISPM convened a workshop of 20 researchers working to address the various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to explore meaningful pathways for decoloniality in research and education as part of the Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS) Conference 2023 in Thailand last February 28 to March 3.

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The Bern Lectures in Health Science Comparative effectiveness and personalized medicine research using real-world data

15 June

Registration is now open for the Public Health Sciences Course Program

The newly established, structured course program in the Public Health Sciences (PHS) aims to foster a comprehensive understanding of Public Health. In June and July 2023, the program offers Core Methods courses in basic statistics and epidemiology to develop competencies in key research methods.

Research priorities for mpox virus and transmission through sexual contact published

Prof. Nicola Low collaborated with an international team of colleagues to identify unanswered questions about mpox virus and its transmission through sexual contact.

The conceptualizations of Healthy Ageing clarified

PhD student Marilyne Menassa and researchers from the lifestyle group at ISPM conducted a systematic review and concept analysis of theoretical models and definitions of healthy ageing under the supervision of Prof Oscar H Franco that was published in the Lancet eClinicalMedicine.

First international patient conference on Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia

More than 300 participants joined the first international patient conference on primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), which was co-organised by PCD support groups worldwide.

Thesis paper on the escalation model of the Swiss Epidemics Act (EpidA)

A group of researchers associated with the Multidisciplinary Center for Infectious Diseases (MCID) wrote a thesis paper on behalf of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) as input for the current revision of the Swiss Epidemics Act (EpidA).

How do Swiss junior physicians experience and cope with moral distress?

A new study led by Prof. Sofia Zambrano will seek answers to this question. The study was one of four applications recently selected for funding by the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences through the KZS Fund.

«The World in Crisis - Climate Change, Pandemic and War», MMS Symposium, 2. November 2022

Climate deterioration, an ongoing pandemic and war in Europe: the world is currently facing multiple crisis, the management of which challenges societies worldwide and threatens to overwhelm international politics. Each individual crisis and in their mutual impact worsen the determinants of health, such as food security, social and economic development, equitable access to health care and social systems.

Best presentation at Papua New Guinea Medical Symposium 2022 for project likely to lead to implementation

Dr. Alice Mengi from the Papua New Guinea Institute for Medical Research (PNGIMR), won the Deborah Lehmann prize for her presentation of the Neofoot (the Neonatal Footlength Study). Dr. Mengi is the clinical research officer for a Swiss Research for Development project led by ISPM Bern and PNGIMR. She conducted the Neofoot project for her Masters of Medical Research.

Best abstract awards at the European Respiratory Society Congress 2022

Eva Pedersen and Myrofora Goutaki received two of the Best Abstract awards at this year´s European Respiratory Society Congress in Barcelona for their submitted research on primary ciliary dyskinesia.

Congratulations to Christoph Bosshard as one of the teachers of the year!

The 5th year medical students at the medical faculty have elected Dr. med. Christoph Bosshard as «teacher of the year» during the 2020 corona year for his teaching of insurance medicine.

National Institutes of Health supplement grants for HIV, Hepatitis and Tuberculosis and Cancer research groups

Under the umbrella of the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS Southern Africa (IeDEA-SA)—a consortium funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH)—two supplement grants totaling 660,000 USD were awarded to researchers at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) for 2022–2023 to study tuberculosis (TB) and cancer among people living with HIV.

The work of Anna Severin and colleagues from ISPM Bern, the Swiss National Science Foundation and University College Dublin was recently featured in nature.

Anna, a PhD student at ISPM, is interviewed about her work that was reported in a preprint article in July. Analysing 10,000 peer review reports submitted to Publons, the team, found that reviews at journals with higher impact factors spend more time discussing a paper’s methods but less time on suggesting improvements than do reviews at lower-impact journals.

ISPM Researchers at the “Night of Research” event of the University of Bern

Members of the MHCOVID project will present their work to the public in the “Nacht der Forschung” event that will take place in Bern on 10th September.

The Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study celebrated its 15th birthday!

The Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study is a nationwide study and investigates health, quality of life and needs after childhood and adolescent cancer. The study was set up and launched in 2007 in close collaboration with survivors, their families and treating physicians. This year, the Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study celebrates its 15th birthday!

Prof. Nicola Low vice-chair of IHR Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country monkeypox outbreak

The Emergency Committee holds its second meeting on Thursday 21st July 2022. The committee members (chaired by Dr. Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele) will provide their views to the Director General of the World Health Organization, who will determine whether the multi-country monkeypox outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Following the first meeting of the Emergency Committee on 23 June 2022, the Director General determined that the event did not constitute a PHEIC.

Emma Hodcroft wins 2022 Johanna Dürmüller-Bol DBMR Research Award

Dr Emma Hodcroft of ISPM and the Multidisciplinary Center for Infectious Diseases (MCID) at the University of Bern is the recipient of the 2022 Johanna Dürmüller-Bol DBMR Research Award for her project on investigating the impact of pandemic restrictions on the spread of the respiratory virus, Enterovirus D68. The yearly award, which provides 30,000CHF in research funds toward the winning project proposal, supports young researchers in applying for competitive grants and is sponsored by the Foundation Johanna Dürmüller-Bol and the Department for BioMedical Research (DBMR).

Healthy weight as a multifaceted societal challenge – commentary on the impact of BMI on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness

In an invited comment in Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, Annelies Wilder-Smith, MD, PhD, ISPM adjunct professor, and Annika Frahsa, Prof. Dr. phil., head of the ISPM research group on community health and health care systems research, discuss a recently published paper from a large UK cohort study on associations of BMI with COVID-19 vaccine uptake, vaccine effectiveness, and risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes that the paper’s findings not only underscore the importance of vaccination, but also the importance of reducing the prevalence of obesity.

Katayoun Taghavi has been awarded a Postdoc.Mobility grant by the Swiss National Science Foundation

Katayoun will work under the supervision of Dr. Partha Basu, at the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Katayoun’s Postdoc.Mobility project is part of a large implementation study, «SHE-CAN» (Self-collected HPV Evaluation for the Prevention of Cervical CANcer), which aims to develop a scalable, woman-centred model for cervical cancer screening in vulnerable women in two states of India, Tamil Nadu and Mizoram.

Recruitment started for DTG Resist study

The first participant of the multiregional DTG Resist study has been recruited in Zambia mid-June. The DTG Resist study is sponsored by the US National Institute of Health and aims at understanding the contexts in which Dolutegravir (DTG) resistance emerges.

5 million CHF to make routine data from children’s hospitals available for science

The project SwissPedHealth, newly funded by the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN) and the Personalized Health and Related Technologies (PHRT), will make routine clinical data from children’s hospitals available in a standardized format and thus boost high-quality clinical research in Paediatrics in Switzerland.

SGP talent prize 2022 winner

Carmen de Jong, graduated PhD student in the paediatric respiratory health group at the institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), won the talent prize 2022 at the Schweizer Gesellschaft für Pädiatrie (SGP) Conference held in Lucerne on 2nd and 3rd June 2022.

Annual report ISPM 2021

The annual report ISPM 2021 is online.

Prof. Schwappach joins the ISPM to establish as research focus on patient safety

Unsafe care causes serious harm and burden to patients and health care staff, and is a public health concern even in well-funded health care systems. In his research, Prof. David Schwappach aims to understand the drivers of safer care and how healthcare systems can be designed to improve patient safety and learn from adverse events.

Teenage Pregnancy - How do We Address the Needs and Rights of Teenage Girls?

Medicus Mundi Switzerland invites you to this special 1-Day Conference! Wednesday 18 May 2022 from 9am - 16pm. Speakers will talk about the current situation on teenage pregnancy, prevention activities in India, Cameroon and El Salvador and how to scale up prevention activities to reduced teenage pregnancy on the national level. We will hear case studies and will discuss and debate about what works and what we can do to improve the rights and needs of teenage girls and boys.

Awards for best publication and best presentation at the Swiss Pulmonology Congress 2022

Eva Pedersen received the award “Best publication by a young researcher” from the Swiss Lung Association and Yin Ting Lam was awarded the prize for the best presentation from the Swiss Society of Paediatric Pulmonology.

Research project on the transmission of viral respiratory pathogens in schools

Congregate settings, such as schools play an important role in the spread of airborne pathogens. A better understanding of viral pathogens transmitted through the air, such as SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and influenza viruses (flu), is needed. Researchers from the University of Bern and Inselspital, including Professor Tina Hascher from the Institute of Education, are currently working under the lead of Professor Lukas Fenner from the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine to investigate the transmission of viral pathogens in school settings in the current pandemic.

International Cancer Survivor Symposium 2022 welcomed almost 200 participants

International Cancer Survivor Symposium 2022 welcomed almost 200 participants worldwide to discuss latest developments and future directions of care for cancer survivors.

PD Dr. Christian Althaus starts lecture series at Collegium generale

The Collegium generale at the University of Bern begins a new new lecture series titled «Thinking the End». On Wednesday, 23 February 2022, PD Dr. Christian Althaus will give the first lecture with his thoughts about the end of a pandemic.

Coronavirus News & Updates

During the international public health emergency, the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) at the University of Bern provides information and resources about the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic for scientists, public health experts, journalists and the public.

European Respiratory Journal – new early career editor and peer review award 2021

Cristina Ardura-Garcia selected for the European Respiratory Journal (ERJ) Early Career Editorial Team mentoring programme and Eva Pedersen receives the 2021 ERJ peer review award.

Congratulations! Dr. Kathrin Zürcher wins GCB PhD student award

As part of the doctoral training, the Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB) organizes an annual symposium for all PhD candidates and their thesis committees. This year, GCB’s PhD committee has elected Dr. Kathrin Züricher and two other candidates for the GCB award. This is not her first prize: in 2019 she received the swissTB Award together with Marie Ballif.

A study led by a researcher of ISPM, the most influential climate paper in 2021

The study led by Ana M. Vicedo-Cabrera, researcher of ISPM, and entitled «The burden of heat-related mortality attributable to recent human-induced climate change» has been the most featured research on climate change in media in 2021, according to Carbon Brief, an award-winning website focused on climate change.

Postmarketing surveillance of breakthrough SMA therapies

The Swiss Registry for Neuromuscular Disorders (Swiss-Reg-NMD) collects medical data on spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and other rare neuromuscular disorders. It also now provides a national platform for postmarketing surveillance of new disease-modifying therapies and research on rare neuromuscular disorders.

ISPM PhD candidate will represent ISPM at the Expo-Dubai in 2022

Magda Gamba, PhD student in the Lifestyle and behavior group at the Institute of Social and preventive medicine (ISPM), will be representing ISPM and the University of Bern at the Swiss Pavilion in the Expo-Dubai 2020 at the end of coming January after winning the 2021 SSPH+ ScienceFlashTalk Award together with Ogonna Nwankwo, PhD student at the Swiss TPH.

Dangers of silent atrial fibrillation in diabetes

In a major study, a research group at Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and the University of Bern investigated atrial fibrillation (AF) in people with andwithout diabetes. Patients with diabetes were found to have significantly more frequent, silent (asymptomatic) atrial fibrillation.

Two ISPM Professors among the list of Highly Cited Researchers 2021

Matthias Egger and Georgia Salanti from ISPM are, again, among the world's most cited researchers in 2021. Their publication records are the result of collaborative efforts with international and national scientists, and have received a lot of attention from the scientific community.

IeDEA-SA has started its 16th year

Matthias Egger, his team and international partners have received another five years of funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH; United States). The nearly 16 million USD award ensures the continuation of the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS Southern Africa (IeDEA-SA) collaboration through 2026.

Prestigious NIH-grant for ISPM research group

Building upon his collaborative work with the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA), Matthias Egger has again been awarded funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH; United States). With a grant of nearly 2.5 million USD over the next three years, this NIH award will support research about HIV drug resistance.

STROBE-MR: Reporting guidelines for Mendelian randomization studies

An international team of researchers and experts, including Veronika Whitesell Skrivankova and Matthias Egger from ISPM, developed new reporting guidelines for observational studies using Mendelian randomization. The STROBE-MR guidelines were published in both JAMA and BMJ today.

Psychiatric patients may be vulnerable to ambient temperatures - study says

A new study co-led by researchers of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine and the University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University of Bern has found that ambient temperature could influence the risk of hospitalizations due to mental disorders even in countries with a temperate climate like Switzerland.

International Cancer Survivor Symposium 2022

The international Cancer Survivor Symposium will take place February 3rd 2022 in Bern, led by among others Prof. Dr. med. Claudia Kuehni.

Participatory research – Living with an undiagnosed rare disease

In his autobiography «husten verboten» (coughing prohibited), Hansruedi Silberschmidt describes his life as a child and young adult with an undiagnosed disease and his path of suffering until he was finally diagnosed with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) at the age of 39.

ISPM hosts symposium to commemorate 50 years featuring international public health experts

The Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) at the University of Bern Commemorates 50 Years with a symposium. The symposium features past and the present ISPM Directors, as well as internationally recognized public health experts who will discuss ISPM’s history and public health yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Annual report ISPM 2020

The annual report ISPM 2020 is online.

Collaboration agreement between ISPM Bern and the Harvard T.C Chan School of Public Health established

The beginning of September 2021 saw the completion of an agreement (confirmed with the signing of an MoU) to collaborate between these two institutions.

ESC Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice launched today with participation of ISPM director Professor Oscar Franco

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice are published online today in European Heart Journal.

ISPM Researchers at meet-the-researcher event in Waisenhausplatz in Bern

Members of the MHCOVID project will present their work to the public in the«Rendez-vous: Forschende im Gespräch» event that will take place on August 27th and 28th at Waisenhausplatz in Bern.

Director of ISPM made «Honorary Professor» by Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

During a virtual ceremony celebrated on August 2nd 2021, Professor Oscar Franco, Director of ISPM Bern, was conferred the title of «Honorary Professor» by the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana based in Bogotá, Colombia and among the top universities in Latin America.

New grant for ISPM to join the WHO special initiative on urban governance for health

The Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), committed to generating evidence that improves health at the individual, community, population and planetary levels, has now received a grant by the World Health Organization to develop a protocol and implementation strategy for operational research in the WHO special initiative on urban governance for health, equity, and wellbeing (UGH_Bern).

New platform on lifestyle and behaviour

The Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, conscious of the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle throughout the life course and stemming from its commitment to generating evidence that improves health at the individual, community, and planetary levels, has now established a new research group on lifestyle and behaviour.

Poorer people less likely to be tested for SARS-CoV-2 more likely to be hospitalised, enter ICU and die

New research from Switzerland presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), held online this year, shows that people living in poorer neighbourhoods were less likely to be tested but more likely to test positive, be hospitalised, or die, compared with those in more wealthy areas. The study is by Professor Matthias Egger and Dr Julien Riou, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Bern, Switzerland.

Swiss Lung Association grant on phenotypes of Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia

Eva Sophie Lunde Pedersen has been awarded a grant from the Swiss Lung Association to identify phenotypes of primary ciliary dyskinesia and study their association with genotypes and disease progression using longitudinal data from a large international study.

ISPM PhD candidate won prize for best oral presentation at the annual congress of the Swiss Society of Paediatrics

Sven Strebel, like Carmen de Jong and Eva Pedersen previously, won the prize awarded in the SwissPedNet session for Translational and Clinical Research in Paediatrics with his presentation “Prevalence and Clinical Risk Factors of Severe Hearing Loss in Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivors.”

Annelies Wilder-Smith appointed as adjunct professor at ISPM

In May 2021, Annelies Wilder-Smith was appointed Adjunt Professor at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine. She will support the work of ISPM and particularly the new research group on community health and health care systems.

European variant from summer 2020 shows the impact of human behaviour and travel on SARS-CoV-2 spread

As Europe once again begins balancing summer holiday travel with pandemic precautions, a paper out today in Nature looks at how post-lockdown border opening and movement helped to spread a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant across Europe last year.