University Sleep-Wake-Epilepsy Center

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The mission of the interfaculty and interdisciplinary University Sleep-Wake-Epilepsy Center (SWEC) is 1) to provide comprehensive care for patients with sleep/wake disorders and/or epilepsy, 2) to advance basic, translational, and clinical research, and 3) to teach at pre- and postgraduate level.

To the SWEC website

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 fur 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 2023, a total of 10 grants were led by researchers of the SWEC. The following three grants were newly awarded or started in 2023:

  • Exploring the Cellular Impact of Neural Oscillations. Sinergia CRSII5_213495. Total amount: CHF 1'232'218. PI: A. Adamantidis with co-Pi C. Robles, U Muenchen.
  • International Swiss Primary Hypersomnolence and Narcolepsy Cohort Study (iSPHYNCS). Total amount: CHF 900’000. PI: C. Bassetti with co-PI: M. Schmidt
  • To sleep or not to sleep: Elucidating mechanisms of adaptive sleep loss. SNSF Spark Grant CRSK-3_221163, Total amount: CHF 100,000. PI: M. Schmidt

Non-SNSF Grants awarded in 2023:

  • Inselspital/Universität Bern/CSEM Collaboration Credit: Long-term EEG monitoring during sleep for late(r) onset epilepsy; PIs: K. Schindler, M. Schmidt, A. Seiler
  • Sitem-Insel Support Fund (SISF). CHF 167,800. Swiss Primary Hypersomnolence and Narcolepsy Cohort Study (SPHNCS). PI: C. Bassetti, Co-PI: M. Schmidt
  • Prognosticating chances of surviving a post-anoxic coma via auditory processing. Olga Mayenfisch Stiftung funding. Total amount: CHF 25,000. PI: A. Tzovara

Academic Promotions:

  • Leila Tarokh received the venia docendi and the title of Associated Professor of the Faculty of Medicine
  • Markus Schmidt received the venia docendi from the Faculty of Medicine