New association to bridge research and medical practice

Advances in medical research and innovation benefit from close collaboration between medical doctors on the one hand and researchers on the other. However, due to increasing time and cost pressures in everyday clinical practice, it is difficult for medical professionals to actively participate in research projects. As a result, their everyday clinical experience is underrepresented, or even missing, in research. Conversely, without the involvement of medical professionals, the incorporation of new scientific findings into clinical practice is delayed.

The hospitals in the canton of Aargau and three institutions of the ETH Domain are now tackling this problem together. On 3 June 2024, Kantonsspital Aarau AG, Kantonsspital Baden AG, Hirslanden Klinik Aarau AG, ETH Zurich, Empa and the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI jointly founded the Association for Medical Research and Innovation in the Canton of Aargau.

In future, doctors who mainly work clinically at Aargau hospitals will be able to apply for research projects through this association. They will then work on joint projects with researchers from ETH Zurich, Empa or PSI. They receive the time to pursue research for six to 24 months while working at the hospitals.

The association financially compensates the research time provided by the hospitals. For the first five years, the association receives one-off start-up funding totaling CHF 1 million from the participating institutions and hospitals (50 %) and from the canton of Aargau (50 %). The association thus plans to approve five to eight applications each year. In the long term, the association is to be supported exclusively by third-party funds.

“The strengths of the ETH Domain range from basic research to the development of new technologies,” says PSI Director Christian Rüegg. “It is always important for us to come into contact with practice at an early stage. In the medical field, we need the concrete experience of medical specialists so that a new development can prove itself.”

Rüegg refers to the already existing, very successful collaborations between the Aargau hospitals and the ETH Domain, including proton therapy and radiopharmacy at PSI as well as the research cooperation Clinical – Research ETH@KSB between ETH Zurich and KSB. Empa is also active in the field of health and medtech and is developing medical implants and innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches together with various companies.

According to the institutions involved, previous collaborations have shown that there is a need for a deeper and broader exchange. One of the main goals of the new partnership is to transfer newly developed technologies and concepts from the laboratories of the participating research institutions into clinical practice more quickly and efficiently – so-called translational medicine. “The newly founded association will enrich and accelerate new research and developments in medicine,” says Hans Jürg Beer. The physician heads a research group at the University of Zurich and also works clinically at Baden Cantonal Hospital. In the new association, Beer now heads the evaluation committee, which reviews and assesses the submitted projects. “The calls are competitive and we evaluate according to clearly defined criteria,” explains Beer.

While hospitals receive financial compensation from the association, the budget for the research projects must be secured from other sources. Applicants must provide proof of funding for their projects when submitting their application.

The ETH Domain sees the association as a building block for realizing the goal it set itself in the Strategic Plan 2025-2028, namely to contribute solutions to the great challenges of our time, particularly in the area of human health. Specifically, the exchange promoted by the association will help to identify challenges in clinical practice, incorporate practical knowledge into new developments at an early stage and test new results and innovations in everyday clinical practice. The participating hospitals increase their attractiveness as employers and gain better access to research results and medical innovation through the program. With the association, the canton of Aargau is investing in its own innovative strength and continuing to position itself as one of the most innovative cantons in Switzerland.