Profile
- Founded in 2013 and recognized as a University Center in 2015
- Supported by the Interfaculty Research Cooperation grant “Decoding Sleep” (CHF 8 m, 2018-2024), the Inselspital, the SNSF, and third-party funding
- Basic, translational, and clinical researchers, as well as medical and other health professionals representing the fields of neurologists, pulmonologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, psychologists, data science specialists, and engineers, collaborate to enable rapid, precise, and individualized prevention, diagnostics, and therapies
Education:
Research:
- Molecular and systems physiology of sleep-wake circuits and functions including animal models of sleep and brain disorders (narcolepsy, epilepsy, stroke, dementia)
- Interactions between sleep and brain in neurological and psychiatric disorders
- Promotion of brain, mental, and body health through sleep-related interventions
Structures:
- Clinical laboratories of the Departments of Neurology, Pulmonology, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology
- Experimental research laboratories from the Zentrum für Experimentelle Neurologie (rodents, human).
- NeuroTec
External Partners
Centre Suisse d’Eléctronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM), Neuchâtel; IBM, Zürich; ETH,Zürich; Wyss Center for bio- and neuro-engineering Geneva; Università della Svizzera italiana (USI); Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC); University of Zürich; University of Lausanne; University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill
Grants
SNSF Grants:
In 2024, a total of 11 SNSF grants were led by researchers of the SWEC. The following grants were newly awarded in 2024:
- To sleep or not to sleep: Elucidating mechanisms of adaptive sleep loss. SNSF Spark Grant. Project No. 221163. Total amount: CHF 100,000. PI: M. Schmidt
- Translational predictive tools for improved drug screening for insomnia. SNSF Bridge Discovery. Project No. 221163. Total amount: CHF 2,477,200. PI: A. Adamantidis, C. Gutierrez Herrera, A. Tzovara, M. Schmidt.
- Harnessing the intranasal pathway for the study and treatment of CNS autoimmune diseases. SNSF Project Funding. Project No. 0.003.453. Total amount: CHF 1,361,707. PI: V. Pernet, A. Chan
- eeGPT: Analysing electroencephalograms with generative pre-trained transformers. SNSF Project Funding. Project No. 10.002.666. Total amount: CHF 886,450. PI: K. Schindler, A. Rahimi (IBM Research Switzerland)
- Adaptive Mechanisms of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases in Brain Development. SNSF Weave/ Lead Agency. Project No. 10000884. Total amount: CHF 1,134,980. PI: M.Medova (DBMR), A.Adamantidis, K.Eagleson (The Saban Research Institute Pediatrics Children's Hospital Los Angeles), P.Levitt (Children's Hospital Los Angeles University of Southern California)
Non-SNSF Grants awarded in 2024:
- Impact of altered light perception on sleep regulation in Alzheimer’s Disease. Chan-Zuckerberg Foundation. Total amount: USD 200,000. PI: A. Adamantidis; L. Mure
- MeteoMind. UniBE InnoGrant. Total amount: CHF 19,920. PI: F. Webler (Supervisor: M. Baud)
- Pharmacological Modulation of Cortical Excitability in Epilepsy. Nachwuchsförderungs-Grant für translationale Forschung; Medical Faculty Bern. Total amount: Protected Research Time, 24 months. (Supervisor: M. Baud)
- NerAI, an analysis tool for predicting survival of comatose patients with AI. UniBE Venture Fellowship 2024. Total amount: 97,756. PI: F. Aellen (Supervisor: A. Tzovara)
- Restoring cortical brain dynamics during sleep to rescue cognition in Alzheimer’s disease. MD-PhD Fellowship SNSF/SAMW. Total amount: CHF 190,851 (Supervisor: B. Draganski)
- YouCliN NeXus Training Program, von der Swiss Federation of Clinical Neuro-Societies. YouCliN Award. Total amount: CHF 6,500 (Supervisor: M. Schmidt)
- BRAIN 24/7: Brain function and mental health in a modern 247 society. ENLIGHT Thematic Network Grant 2024. Total amount: CHF 150,000. PI: C. Gutierrez Herrera
Academic Promotions:
- Athina Tzovara was elected extraordinary professor for machine learning for medicine.
