SPHN
24.05.2022
SPHN has launched a call for Demonstrator projects
Read more CloseThe Swiss Personalized Health Network has launched a call for «Demonstrator projects». These projects must demonstrate the added value of infrastructures, processes and frameworks developed within SPHN. Submission deadline for applications is 31 August 2022.
Importantly, Demonstrator projects shall not build new infrastructure from scratch, but consolidate what has been started, complement missing links, and assess applicability and impact on clinical decision making and personalized health research. In total, SPHN will allocate approximately CHF 3.7 million for Demonstrator projects. Funding requires matching contributions by the applicant institutions. For more information on the call, including all necessary documents for applicants, please visit the SPHN website.
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Ethics
19.05.2022
Guidelines on «dying and death» in the FMH Association’s Code
Read more CloseThe Medical Chamber of the Swiss Medical Association (FMH) decided today that the SAMS guidelines on «Management of dying and death» are to be incorporated into the Association’s Code. The SAMS welcomes this decision, as the situation prevailing since 2018 – with two sets of guidelines in force – had given rise to uncertainty among physicians. The broadly accepted document is now available online.
The medical-ethical guidelines on this topic published by the SAMS in 2018 have not hitherto formed part of the FMH Code. The delay in their adoption was due to the controversy which arose in 2018 over the subsection on assisted suicide (6.2 and 6.2.1). Since then, this chapter and the terms used therein have been reviewed in depth by a joint working group, with various clarifications being made. The guidelines on «Management of dying and death» (2018, revised in 2021) are available in English, French, German and Italian. More information can be found on our website.
Download the guidelines (PDF)
Funding
04.04.2022
Young Talents in Clinical Research: Call 2022
Read more CloseWith the «Young Talents in Clinical Research» program, the Gottfried and Julia Bangerter-Rhyner Foundation and the SAMS aim at encouraging young medical doctors to start out in clinical research. For 2022, CHF 1 million is made available to finance «protected research time» and «project grants» for a consecutive research project. The submission deadline is 30 June 2022.
The YTCR program, which comprises two funding instruments, «beginner grants» and «project grants», focuses on residents who wish to be freed from clinical duty to gain a first research experience. Applications must be written in English and registered online. Details on the participation criteria, submission and evaluation procedure can be found in the program regulations, on our website and in the FAQ.
Download the flyer (PDF)
Ethics
31.03.2022
Organ transplantation: presumed or express consent?
Read more CloseOrgan transplantation is an evidenced-based therapy. It finds its justification on the fundamental idea of the will and ability of individuals to help each other. On 15 May, the revised transplantation law will be put to a vote. In order to support the opinion building, the SAMS is publishing a factsheet that summarizes the ethical, medical and legal basis for the discussion.
The revised law provides for a shift to presumed consent in the broad sense. This means that people who do not wish to donate their organs must declare this during their lifetime. In the absence of a declaration, the will to donate is in principle presumed. The relatives, as it is currently the case, must be consulted to verify the accuracy of this presumption. For more information, read the factsheet or consult our website.
Download the factsheet (PDF)
Publications
24.03.2022
Discover the SAMS Annual Report 2021 online
Read more CloseAlthough vaccination changed the situation in the second year of the pandemic, the coronavirus remained a key issue for the SAMS in 2021. In addition to topics related to this issue, we have initiated, accompanied and completed numerous projects, published papers and implemented funding programmes. Our online annual report (French or German) allows you to look back on the year 2021 as experienced by the SAMS.
For those of you who prefer to browse rather than to click, you can download a PDF version and print it. We hope you enjoy discovering or rediscovering the many highlights of the past year that reflect our commitment to science, medicine and society.
Annual Report (in French) (PDF)
SPHN
21.03.2022
Personalized health: The national infrastructure to boost research is up-and-running
Read more CloseConnecting researchers from across Switzerland with biomedical data to foster personalized health: this is the aim of the national secure computing network BioMedIT, setup by the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, in collaboration with ETH Zurich and University of Basel. The network is part of the Swiss Personalized Health Network initiative (SPHN).
The BioMedIT network builds on three scientific IT competence platforms, or nodes, in Basel, Lausanne and Zurich. After the setup and refining phases, it is now fully operational and its website officially launched today. Currently, over 60 national and international health-related projects are running on it – a major step to empower personalized health research in Switzerland. More information can be found on the new website.
Media release SIB (in French) (PDF)
SPHN
09.03.2022
SPHN: Second call for Swiss cohorts to join the Maelstrom catalogue
Read more CloseSupported by the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN), the metadata of 10 Swiss cohort studies are currently being integrated into the international Maelstrom catalogue. SPHN launches now a second call for proposals to strengthen the reuse of these valuable data for research purposes and international scientific collaborations.
The international Maelstrom catalogue currently contains metadata from over 310 studies from all around the world. Researchers can explore the catalogue for information about the existing data and how to access them with a free, web-based search tool. To allow more Swiss data to be included, SPHN is launching the second call for proposals and will cover the costs incurred by Maelstrom. The submission deadline is 31 May 2022. More information can be found on the SPHN website.
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Funding
24.02.2022
KZS call for proposals: Moral distress among the healthcare workforce
Read more CloseThe SAMS is providing a total of CHF 250’000.– from the Käthe-Zingg-Schwichtenberg Fund for research in bio-medical ethics dealing with moral distress among the healthcare workforce. Moral distress describes the mental and moral repercussions experienced by health professionals when they are unable to provide ethically appropriate action, usually due to institutional constraints. The submission deadline is 15 May 2022.
With this call for proposals, the SAMS invites researchers to examine, from a clinical ethics and/or public health ethics perspective, the roots of healthcare workers' – nurses' and physicians' – frustration and high professional drop-out rates in the Swiss context. Applications can be written in German, French or English and must be registered online. Details on the call, format and submission of proposals can be found on our website.
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