Biomedicine, broadening USI-ETH collaborations

Christian Wolfrum, Vice-President for Research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, would like to see more synergies with Università della Svizzera italiana, with double professorships and a joint PhD programme.

"An extended collaboration between USI and ETH would be very beneficial" said Christian Wolfrum, Vice-President for Research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, when interviewed by TicinoScienza about the synergies between the two universities in the biomedical field. Wolfrum mentioned an increase in double professorships and a new joint PhD programme as objectives.

Università della Svizzera italiana and ETH Zurich already collaborate in the biomedical field with several joint research projects and in training future doctors. ETH is, in fact, one of the Swiss universities with which USI collaborates for its Master of Medicine.

Wolfrum explained that they are working on two fronts. The first concerns the allocation of professorships, with dual USI and ETH appointments (as is already the case with Professor Andrea Alimonti and Professor Federica Sallusto). The second initiative aims to develop a joint MD-PhD program that combines clinical research and medical training.

Giovanni Pedrazzini, dean of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at USI, stated: "one could not imagine a better collaboration with the ETH, which has always supported collaboration with our university with great commitment and determination, both in terms of training and research and with a joint doctoral project in the process of being approved".