Research

Prof. Katja Odening, Professor of Translational Cardiology, is the leader of the latest "Lighthouse Project" of the Bern Center for Precision Medicine (BCPM). Her interdisciplinary project PACE (Precision diagnosis and therapy in cArdiac ChannelopathiEs) was selected from amongst 30 entries and aims at a precise, personalised therapy approach for cardiac arrhythmias.
In young people, sudden cardiac arrest is often associated with a hereditary ion channel disease. Therefore, in a first step, Prof. Odening and her project partners will identify the disease-causing gene variants in the genome of patients, but then also gene variants of unknown significance (VUS) and possible genetic modifiers. They will then examine the same genes in zebrafish, fruit flies and rabbits in order to better understand the significance of the gene variants and modifiers. The intention is to ultimately enable conclusions to be drawn about the disease-causing mechanisms in humans as well as to lead to new therapeutic approaches.

A study co-led by Prof. Jan Gralla and Prof. Urs Fischer provides important insights into the combination of treatments for acute ischemic stroke, specifically focusing on intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular treatment. The study was published in The Lancet recently.
Patients with acute ischemic stroke require immediate medical attention. Current international guidelines recommend that eligible patients should receive a combination of intravenous thrombolysis, a medication that can dissolve the clot causing the stroke but also carries a risk of intracranial bleeding, together with endovascular treatment, a procedure that mechanically removes the clot. However, the additional value of intravenous thrombolysis in patients directly admitted to endovascular treatment-capable centers has been a subject of debate. The recent study provides valuable data for this scientific debate.

Sebastian Jordi received a SAMS MD-PhD grant for his project «Metabolic dynamics of the small intestinal microbiota upon nutritional challenges».
Most nutrients, vitamins, and calories are absorbed via the small intestine. The bacterial community in the small intestine critically shapes intestinal function. Because it is difficult to obtain samples from the human small intestine, its bacterial communities (microbiota) remain barely investigated. However, ileostomies i.e., surgically installed exits of the small intestine at the abdominal wall, are an efficient and non-invasive access route to the small intestinal microbiota.
In his project, Sebastian Jordi will conduct a randomized clinical trial with patients who already have an ileostomy due to a previous medical indication. He will analyze intestinal microbiota obtained at different time points and after different diets using state-of-the-art analysis methods. He is interested in both the composition of the bacterial communities and interactions between the bacteria and the metabolism of the participants.

Prof. Reto Auer received the second Investigator Initiated Clinical Trial (IICT) grant from the SNSF for his study ESTxENDS.
People who want to quit smoking or expose themselves to fewer noxious substances are increasingly turning to tobacco-free e-vaporizers (e-cigarettes). The ESTxENDS study has been supported by the SNSF since 2017. The study in over 1200 participants investigates whether nicotine-containing e-vaporizers lead to smoking cessation, whether they are safe, and whether they mitigate the health consequences of smoking. The first interim evaluation after six months of observation was previously funded by an IICT grant. These results will be published shortly. Other funding sources made the interim assessments after one and two years possible.
Thanks to the new IICT grant, the observation period can be extended to five years, and important data on the long-term use and safety of e-vaporizers can be collected.