Grants

In 2023, two internationalization calls were launched to promote international networking at institutional level.

Among the many interesting proposals, the Commission for Internationalization and National Networking selected two projects that strengthen connections with Canada and Zimbabwe.

Global Health Initiative:

Clarify why some Zimbabwean children fail to thrive through an analysis of the microbiota trajectory and intestinal inflammation

Prof. Benjamin Misselwitz, Department of Visceral Surgery and Medicine

New PIs: Prof. Bahtiyar Yilmaz and Prof. Stephanie Ganal-Vonarburg

Organized in collaboration with the University of Zimbabwe, this project aims to investigate gut microbiota in infants in Sub-saharan Africa, where malnutrition, poor hygiene, and infections limit infant development and life expectancy. Working from previous studies, the team will test the hypothesis that disadvantageous nutrition and hygiene dis-rupt intestinal microbiota maturation early in life and predispose infants to gut and systemic inflammation and failure to thrive. Further, it aims to develop feasible diagnostic markers and a mechanistic understanding that enable targeted interventions. The project provides long-term added values to both parties, such as sustainable support to African children and insights into the generalizability of results through the comparison of data from varied settings.

International Networking Activities in Research:

Elucidate the complexity of diabetes through a strong Precision Metabolic Medicine Network (PM2N) using open-science principles and precision medicine

Prof. José Garcia-Tirado, Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology, Nutritional Medicine and Metabolism

Organized in collaboration with Prof. Vincent Mooser, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, this project focuses on the study of new preventive and therapeutic solutions for patients affected by diabetes and metabolic diseases. The strong knowledge available in Bern in precision medicine will be complemented by the capacities in genomic medicine provided by McGill University. This partnership will foster a sustainable collaborative research network of medical doctors, geneticists, bioinformaticians, engineers, and specialists in public health to advance the frontiers of pre-cision metabolic medicine. At the institutional level, a memorandum of understanding with McGill University has already been signed, and an agreement for undergraduate student exchange will be stipulated in 2025.