About SwissPedHealth

Welcome to SwissPedHealth, the Pediatric Personalized Research Network Switzerland. Our mission is to revolutionize pediatric healthcare by creating a seamless national data stream that enhances the quality of care for children across Switzerland.

Our vision

Children are one of the most vulnerable patient groups, and their health is paramount to society’s well-being. At SwissPedHealth, we envision a future where the health data collected during children’s hospital visits can be securely harnessed to drive research, innovation, and ultimately, provide personalized care for our youngest patients. We believe that better health during childhood leads to healthier adults and future generations.

The need for change

While significant advancements have been made in child healthcare in Switzerland, there remains a lack of robust evidence to guide diagnostics and therapies for children. Historically, children have often been excluded from medical research, leaving critical gaps in our understanding of how best to treat them. Additionally, the regional separation of hospitals in Switzerland has hindered the establishment of effective research networks for children.

Our approach

SwissPedHealth is part of the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN) and Personalized Health Related Technologies (PHRT) initiatives, supported by the Swiss Government. We are working towards a future where the wealth of data collected in daily pediatric practice can be leveraged for research. To achieve this, we are fostering collaboration between clinicians, researchers, scientists, and patients.

Creating a national data stream

Our primary goal is to create a national data stream that integrates existing data from children’s hospitals in Geneva, Lausanne, Basel, Bern, and Zurich. This data stream will be built upon the foundation laid by SwissPedData, a standardized pediatric healthcare “dictionary” that defines the most relevant information collected during a child’s hospital visit. By combining this data with information from other sources, such as federal administration and registries, we aim to develop SwissPedHealth.

How SwissPedHealth Benefits Children

SwissPedHealth will revolutionize pediatric healthcare in Switzerland in several ways:

1. Personalized care: By harnessing patient data, we can tailor healthcare to individual children’s needs, ensuring the best possible outcomes.
2. Benchmarking: Our data will enable hospitals to compare their performance with others, identifying areas for improvement.
3. Informing policy decisions: Policymakers will have access to data-driven insights, aiding in the development of effective healthcare policies.
4. Planning therapeutic studies: Researchers can use our data to design and conduct studies that lead to more effective treatments for children.

Our Research Projects

SwissPedHealth will demonstrate the power of our pediatric data stream through several research projects, including:

• Lighthouse Project: Detecting rare diseases in critically ill children by analyzing clinical data, DNA, RNA, and other molecules. Advanced machine learning techniques will identify patterns and expedite treatment.
• Nested Projects: Addressing common child health issues such as obesity, cancer, lung disease, and antibiotic use through data-driven research.

Our Team

SwissPedHealth is led by Luregn Schlapbach (Kispi Zurich) and Julia Vogt (ETHZ). We are a multidisciplinary team that includes partners from SPHN, PHRT, and patient and public representatives. This collaborative effort ensures that we obtain and utilize pediatric data from hospitals, federal administration, and research in an organized, systematic manner.

At SwissPedHealth, we are committed to high-quality, patient-focused research that advances pediatric healthcare in Switzerland. Together with Swiss children and their families, we are shaping a healthier future for our youngest generation.

Project title

Pediatric personalized research network Switzerland (SwissPedHealth) – a joint pediatric national data stream.