Department of Nephrology and Hypertension

Inselspital Bern

The Department is the leading internal medicine center for kidney disease and hypertension in the canton of Bern, offering top diagnostics and care. It houses Switzerland‘s largest dialysis unit, is a kosek-certified center of excellence for rare kidney diseases, and engages in basic, translational, and patient-focused research.

To the Inselspital website

Co-Director a.i.

Prof. Daniel Fuster

Co-Director a.i.

Prof. Uyen Huynh-Do

Profile

  • Education: Programs for students in medicine and biomedical sciences (BMS); Supervision of bachelor and master students for their elective modules and master theses; Supervision and mentoring of PhD students in the graduate program in Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB); Continuing education program CAS/DAS in Translational Nephrology (in collaboration with the University of Zurich)
  • Preclinical Research: Exploring mechanisms of renal function loss in acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic intrauterine hypoxia (DOHaD); Investigating the roles of transporters in polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD); Developing novel tools for ex vivo renal diagnostics; Studying factors affecting the steroid hormone metabolome.
  • Clinical Research: Focus on kidney stone formation, chronic allograft failure, lupus nephritis (registry), glomerulopathies, frailty, and inflammation in CKD patients, transport mechanisms in peritoneal dialysis. Includes investigator-initiated trials (e.g., Bern ADPKD and Bern Kidney Stone registries, PEAK, SWEETSTONE, and INDAPACHLOR trials).

External Partners

Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Sorbonne University, Paris, France; Vivantes Klinikum im Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany; Center for Dialysis, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany; Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH University Hospital, Aachen, Germany; Università Cattolica del sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy; Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Switzerland; Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland; Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; University of Applied Sciences and Art Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz, Switzerland; University of Stellenbosch, South Africa; University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Physiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA; Division of Nephrology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, USA

Grants

  • AIRG-Suisse
  • Boehringer Ingelheim
  • Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, University of Bern
  • CSL Behring AG
  • CSL Vifor
  • Schweizerische Nierenstiftung
  • IFCAH (International Fundraising for Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia)
  • Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
  • SF Board Call, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bern
  • Swiss Kidney Foundation
  • Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant numbers: 188762, 219449, 229838, 10000507, 10002363, 10003460)

Highlight 2025

From Diabetes Drug to Stone Shield: Empagliflozin in Non-Diabetic Kidney Stone Formers

Kidney stones are common and often recur, yet prevention options are limited. Risk is driven by urinary supersaturation, when solutes exceed solubility and predict stone formation. In the SWEETSTONE trial (NCT04911660), 46 non-diabetic calcium or uric acid stone formers received 25 mg Empagliflozin or placebo for 14 days (crossover; 2-6 week washout). Empagliflozin reduced brushite and uric acid supersaturation versus placebo without changing urine volume. Results are published in Nature Medicine.

Anderegg et al., Nat Med. 2025