Medical research needs unresolved issues from clinical practice, says ETH Vice President Christian Wolfrum. He explains in an interview how cooperation between ETH research and hospitals can be improved and why ETH intends to pool its activities in medical research.
What would you say if someone at a medical conference were to ask what ETH Zurich actually does in its medical research?
Christian Wolfrum: We conduct research into new solutions for real issues arising from daily clinical routine and patient care and develop technologies that are relevant both to fundamental questions of medical research and to clinical application. The life and natural sciences and the data and engineering sciences are involved in this.
What role does ETH play in medicine?
Medicine is an applied discipline. The focus of doctors is primarily on the treatment of patients. The institutes of technology are therefore sought-after research partners for university and cantonal hospitals seeking personalised diagnoses and new therapies, driven by novel technologies and data science insights. At the same time, the medics know best which problems still remain unresolved in everyday clinical practice. This is the basis for the research collaboration.
How well does the interface between medicine and ETH research work?
The key lies in mutual understanding. When scientists and medics develop a new technology together, they embark on a long iterative process. This calls for equal partners who trust each other at eye level. The aim is to break down silos on both sides and jointly develop strategies for solving the identified problems, for the benefits of patients, science and a society at large. In the ETH Bachelor’s degree programme, we provide medical students with an in-depth scientific and technical understanding where the focus is to all intents and purposes on the interface. This way we enable the students of today to build the bridges needed tomorrow.
When ETH introduced its Human Medicine Bachelor’s degree programme in 2017, this was not welcomed by everyone.
This is different today. Hospitals value cooperation in teaching and research. I see the greatest challenge not so much in teaching and research cooperation per se as in the underlying conditions, especially in the statutory and regulatory field.
Why is this?
We urgently need framework agreements for exchange between research and clinical practice. Cooperation at the individual level is working very well. However, each professorship is currently concluding a separate agreement with each clinical partner. This is very time-consuming and can frequently hinder cooperation. A framework agreement can enormously simplify the process by setting out the basic principles of cooperation. Moreover, it contains templates for straightforward project-related research agreements to facilitate cooperation for researchers.
ETH cooperates with a number of different partner hospitals and clinics. How does it select them?
ETH as an institution does not play any role in this selection. It is the scientists who choose their partners at the hospitals. A shared research interest forms the basis for this. If as Vice President for Research I then notice that many of our scientists are cooperating with a specific hospital, we then take a closer look at this. ETH is part of the Network University Medicine Zurich (UMZH) in which it jointly coordinates Zurich-based activities in the field of medicine with the University of Zurich and the university hospitals, something else that creates a good framework for shared research projects and the application of research findings in clinical practice. We work together with the Baden Cantonal Hospital (KSB) and the Schulthess Klinik and are in close contact with other hospitals for contractually governed cooperation.
“It is intended at all events to increase further the speed at which knowledge from research at ETH Zurich is translated into clinical practice – which would be a massive gain.”Christian Wolfrum
Are contracts with hospitals abroad also considered?
Yes. There are many research cooperation undertakings and projects with Charité Berlin, for example. This is one of Europe’s largest university hospitals and among the strongest in research. external page We concluded a strategic cooperation agreement with Charité in 2024. As a Swiss research institution, ETH needs international partners in medicine. This particularly applies to clinical data research projects. Millions of medical data are required in order to personalise therapies reliably. We don’t have these data quantities in Switzerland. We are therefore also in talks with the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. This hospital has almost two million patients – a quarter more than all the hospitals in Switzerland put together.
You raise an important point: research for personalised medicine is dependent on enormous quantities of data. Data exchange between hospitals and scientists in Switzerland has long been impeded by technical and regulatory obstacles. What’s the situation like today?
Although it hasn’t quite reached its goal, Switzerland has made significant progress in recent years in digitalising medically relevant data and thereby also making it available for research. This is also to the credit of the two major initiatives for personalised medicine – the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN) of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences and the Personalized Health and Related Technologies (PHRT) of the ETH Domain.
To what extent have the two networks improved the data basis for personalised medicine in Switzerland?
The initiatives have established data infrastructures and technologies enabling both scientists and clinicians to make joint use of medical data to gain new insights and develop personalised diagnoses and therapies. Shared data infrastructures – so-called National Data Streams – have been created in particular for the four research topics “infectious diseases in intensive care medicine”, “oncology”, “paediatrics” and “patient care research”. They significantly support cooperation between research and clinical practice. Participating in such networks represents a major gain for ETH Zurich, as does participation in the Network University Medicine Zurich (UMZH) and The LOOP Zurich, the research centre for personalised medicine founded by ETH with the University of Zurich and the university hospitals.
“As a Swiss research institution, ETH needs international partners in medicine. This particularly applies to clinical data research projects.”Christian Wolfrum
You announced at the first “Medicine Day” of ETH Zurich at the start of September that there were plans for an ETH Centre for Medical Research and Human Health. What do you expect to gain from this?
We have around 160 professors at ETH who conduct research in the field of medicine and healthcare. This accounts for almost a third of all professorships. We wish to offer a coordinating and catalysing structure for accelerating fundamental research, technology development, translation and innovation in medicine. It is intended at all events to increase further the speed at which knowledge from research at ETH is translated into clinical practice – which would be a massive gain.
How is such a centre to achieve these synergies?
The different products and initiatives in medicine frequently face similar challenges with regard to data transfer, statutory framework conditions, ethics and communication, which means that a centre can serve as a point of contact for all these matters. As Vice President Research, I provide the necessary structures. However, which specific tasks the proposed centre will perform is currently still being worked out and discussed with the professors involved and the existing initiatives in medical research. The final decision on the establishment of the new centre will then be taken by the ETH Executive Board.
Is the Centre for Medical Research an initial step towards a future ETH department of medicine?
No, quite the contrary. One of the strengths of ETH is that medical research is integrated into the respective departments and able to benefit from the specific knowledge of the various disciplines. Medicine is an interdisciplinary subject. We need structures for this that link the departments.
You yourself are leaving ETH Zurich in June in order to join the management of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. What do you wish at all events to complete by then in medicine?
My aim is to continue to plan the Centre for Medical Research and Human Health. “Complete” also does not mean that the development of ETH medical research will cease upon my departure – its promotion by ETH in cooperation with partners in the education, research and innovation sector will continue seamlessly.
