Sabine Schulze

The Paediatric Disease Modeling Group Seeks a PhD Student and a Postdoctoral Researcher

visual: University of Basel, Mark Niedermann

The Paediatric Disease Modeling Lab at the University of Basel offers a PhD Research Opportunity and a Post-Doctoral Research Opportunity in the context of systems biology and mathematical modelling. The group's mission is to understand how early-life exposures to the microbiome shape lifelong health through their impact on the developing immune system. They develop mathematical models of microbiome–immune co-development to quantify how early-life perturbations shape infectious disease dynamics, vaccine responses, and non-communicable diseases, with the aim of translating their insights into actionable strategies for pediatric care. Their work combines mechanistic mathematical modeling, causal inference, and machine learning approaches, with the opportunity to be applied to longitudinal multi-omics data from pediatric cohorts spanning diverse socio-economic and geographical contexts.

PhD Position

The group is seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join their interdisciplinary research team. You will have the opportunity to apply cutting-edge quantitative methods and modeling approaches to diverse datasets with longitudinal multi-omics data from both local and international collaborations. You will be part of a collaborative research environment with close interactions with the Basel Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH), the University Children's Hospital Basel (UKBB), and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH).
A strong interest in applying mathematical modelling to biological questions and excellent teamwork and communication skills in English are required. The PhD candidate will be expected to take an active role in shaping the project within an environment that encourages academic freedom and scientific independence.

Depending on your interests and background, your main tasks will include:

Analyzing and integrating longitudinal multi-omics data from pediatric cohorts
Developing and parameterizing mechanistic mathematical models
Applying statistical modeling, causal inference, and machine learning approaches
Collaborating with experimental and clinical research partners
Support and preparation of scientific reports and journal articles

Learn more and apply here

Postdoctoral Fellow

The group is seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to join their interdisciplinary team. You will develop and apply advanced statistical and causal inference methods to characterize developmental trajectories from longitudinal multi-omics data, with the goal of understanding how early-life perturbations shape long-term health outcomes across diverse pediatric populations.
You will have the opportunity to work with rich datasets from international pediatric cohorts spanning diverse geographic and socioeconomic contexts, including longitudinal multi-omics data from both local and international collaborations. You will be part of a collaborative research environment with close interactions with the Basel Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH), the University Children's Hospital Basel (UKBB), and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH).
A strong interest in applying mathematical modelling to biological questions and excellent teamwork and communication skills in English are required.

Depending on your interests and background, your work may involve:

Developing methods to characterize developmental patterns from multi-omics data
Developing and parameterizing mechanistic mathematical models describing microbiome-immune dynamics
Applying Bayesian inference and model fitting approaches
Applying statistical modeling, causal inference, and machine learning approaches to identify determinants of developmental robustness
Applying causal inference approaches to identify critical windows in development
Optimizing intervention strategies through computational experimentation
Collaborating with experimental and clinical research partners
Contributing to scientific publications and grant applications

Learn more and apply here

Digital Parenting Support Improves Early Childhood Development in Rural Peru

A new Swiss TPH-led study shows how digital tools can support caregivers and extend early childhood development services in resource-constrained settings. Conducted in rural Peru, the study found that an AI-supported parenting chatbot could improve early childhood development outcomes and offer a cost-effective way to extend the reach of evidence-based support, while in-person programmes remain essential.

Globally, an estimated 250 million children under the age of five are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential due to poverty, limited stimulation and inadequate support for caregivers. Early childhood development shapes health, learning and economic participation throughout life. While evidence-based programmes such as home visits can be highly effective, they are resource-intensive and difficult to scale in many low- and middle-income countries.

In response, digital tools are being increasingly explored as a means of expanding current parental support interventions, complementing rather than replacing in-person care. As part of the project “Digital Support Systems to Improve Child Health and Development in Low-Income Settings”, funded by the Basel Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH), the study examined whether a digital parenting intervention could reinforce nurturing caregiving practices in a rural, resource-constrained context. Findings were published yesterday in Science Advances.

A study coordinator discusses the parental intervention and the study with a mother and her child. Credit: Stella Hartinger Peña

Study design and intervention

The cluster-randomised controlled trial followed more than 2,400 caregiver–child pairs in the Cajamarca region of Andean Peru from infancy to early childhood. Communities were randomly assigned to one of three groups: an AI-supported digital parenting chatbot, an in-person home-visiting programme delivered by trained community workers, or a control group that received no additional support.

Children were enrolled at a mean age of six months and followed until 2.5-3 years of age, when developmental outcomes were assessed.

Caregivers in the digital intervention group received age-appropriate guidance on play, communication, stimulation and caregiving via a chatbot accessible on mobile devices. The intervention was implemented using Afinidata, an AI-supported digital platform for parents that provides personalised, science-based activities and guidance. The chatbot operated through widely used messaging services, delivering weekly prompts and activity suggestions tailored to the child’s age and developmental stage, with recommendations adapted over time using caregiver feedback and engagement data to adapt over time. Caregivers could also ask questions, track developmental milestones and access short, evidence-based messages on early childhood development.

Findings and implications

Both the digital intervention and the home-visiting programme resulted in measurable improvements in children’s developmental outcomes at 2.5 years of age. While the home-visiting programme produced slightly larger gains, it required substantial human resources and ongoing operational investment. In contrast, the digital intervention delivered positive improvements in child development at roughly one-fifteenth of the costs of in-person support, reflecting its reliance on existing mobile infrastructure and limited additional staffing once established. This suggests that digital tools could help to improve early childhood development support in settings where workforce capacity and funding are constrained.

“This study is not about replacing parents or professionals with technology,” says Günther Fink, first author and health economics expert at Swiss TPH. “The chatbot supports and encourages caregivers in what they already do every day – talking to, playing and engaging with their children – by providing timely, practical guidance that fits into their lives.”

Experience from the field also highlighted that digital tools are not equally accessible to all families and require careful adaptation to local realities. While mobile phone availability enabled broad access to the digital intervention, some of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged families faced barriers to enrolment, underlining the importance of embedding digital approaches within existing support structures.

“Some of the most vulnerable families still require direct, in-person support, and digital tools alone are not enough,” says Stella Hartinger, co-senior author and project lead in Peru. “From our experience in Peru, what made this intervention work was careful adaptation to local realities and close integration with existing early childhood services.”

These findings reinforce the need for a balanced mix of delivery models in early childhood development programmes, particularly in rural and resource-constrained settings.

“Home visits remain a highly effective approach, but they are difficult to scale in many settings,” says Daniel Mäusezahl, co-senior author and co-leader of the study. “Digital tools can complement existing services and help close gaps in early childhood support, especially in rural and resource-constrained areas.”

The study adds robust evidence to the growing field of digital support systems for early childhood development. It demonstrates that, when carefully designed and embedded in local contexts, AI-supported tools can strengthen parenting practices and contribute to improved child development outcomes without displacing human care.

Why it matters

Supporting parents in resource-limited settings matters because early childhood development shapes health, learning, and life opportunities throughout children’s life and beyond. Yet many families receive little or no support during their children's early years. This study shows how digital tools can help fill the gap – extending evidence-based parenting advice to families who would otherwise go unreached, even in areas with limited resources.

Links:

Publication in Science Advances

https://www.swisstph.ch/en/projects/digital-support-systems-to-improve-child-health-and-development

https://brc.ch/research/digital-support-systems/

Two healthcare workers visit a family in San Marcos (Peru) as part of a home-visiting programme to support families during their children’s early development. Credit: Stella Hartinger Peña.

Conference – Advancing paediatric health by innovative digital and cellular-based solutions

The Basel Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH) welcomes you to this special event on May 28, 2026 in Basel (Switzerland). Under the theme “Advancing paediatric health by innovative digital and cellular-based solutions”, we will explore the latest breakthroughs on digital health and molecular medicine designed to improve the well-being of children and adolescents.

With a multidisciplinary programme and 12 national and international speakers, this free-of-cost event aims to foster critical dialogue among clinicians, molecular biologists, computational engineers and public health experts to propel the future of paediatric research.

Session III: Early Child-Development and Digital Interventions

- Kirsty Donald (University of Cape Town)
  
  "Risk and Resilience: Using scalable technology to understand brain health in early life"
- Günther Fink (Swiss TPH)
  
  "Digital Support Systems to Improve Child Development in Peru: Results from a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Open Label Trial"
- Melissa McCradden (University of Adelaide)
  
  "Artificial intelligence through the eyes of youth: how young peoples' perspectives can help us build better AI"

Seminar – Children’s Mental Health in Colombia: flourishing despite adversity

The BRCCH is pleased to invite you to an online seminar by Prof Juan David Palacio, child psychiatrist at the University of Antioquia, Colombia. In this seminar, Prof. Palacios will explore the geographical, genetic, and environmental factors associated with the onset of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents from the paisa population. He will also present current clinical and research approaches for identifying children at risk of developing severe mental health conditions, emphasizing the integration of population-based genetic data with neuropsychological and behavioral assessments.

Profile

Juan David Palacio is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist trained at the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, King´s College. He is currently leading the Fellow program in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Universidad de Antioquia, in Medellin – Colombia.

For the past twenty years, he has been working in the Group of Research on Psychiatry (GIPSI) at the University of Antioquia, mainly with the bipolar offspring. He recently started research about the clinical characteristics, genetic markers, and psychosocial adversity factors that predict the onset of Severe Mental Illness in high-risk offspring from the “Paisa” genetic isolate.

Dr Burcu Tepekule appointed as BRCCH Professor of Paediatric Infectious and Emerging Diseases Modelling

Dr Tepekule’s research explores how early-life environmental perturbations such as malnutrition, infection or antibiotic exposure influence immune maturation. Using mathematical models informed by paediatric cohort data, her research group will characterise how early-life immune imprinting influences infectious disease susceptibility and vaccine response in children. Ultimately, her research will contribute to the generation of microbiome-targeted interventions at the population scale to prevent pathological immune programming, thereby improving lifelong health outcomes for children across diverse socioeconomic and geographical settings.

Seminar – Bridging Early Detection and Innovation in Adolescent Mental Health: Current Research & Emerging Digital Solutions

Where: Hybrid Zoom / Seminar room U1.193– Biozentrum, University of Basel, Spitalstrasse 41, 4056 Basel

Directions and location information

Zoom Registration: HERE

In Person Registration: HERE

Schedule:

- - Keynote by Dr Dorothée Bentz (University of Basel): "From Virtual Reality to Online Interventions: Harnessing Technology to address common mental health challenges in young populations"
  - Keynote by Dr Marc Birkhölzer (Universitäre psychiatrische
    Dienste Bern): "The EARLY Study: Investigating early signs, risk factors and developmental course of personality functioning impairment in young people – an international multicenter longitudinal study – initial findings and current status"
  - Keynote by Ana Gregorec (University Medical Center
    Maribor, Slovenia): "Adolescent Personality Disorders in Slovenia: The EARLY Study, Other Ongoing Research and Current Diagnostic Practice"
  - Q&A and Closing

Profile

Dr Dorothée Bentz co-leads the BRCCH project "EARLY: Investigating Early Signs and Developmental Course of Personality Disorders in Young People." Read more here.

Profile

Ana Gregorec is a Researcher in the BRCCH project "EARLY: Investigating Early Signs and Developmental Course of Personality Disorders in Young People." Read more here.

Inaugural Lecture – Genetics of depression: from statistical associations to molecular understanding

The BRCCH cordially invites you to the inaugural lecture of Prof Na Cai, who holds a BRCCH professorship in Computational Medical Genomics at ETH Zurich. In her talk, Prof Na Cai will discuss the genetic factors underlying major depression disorder, a condition afflicting children and adolescents worldwide and still without reliable diagnostics or effective treatment. In addition, she will describe the future directions of her research, from innovative methodologies for mining biobanks and electronic health records to the use of combined molecular, clinical and environmental data to uncover the heterogeneity behind depression’ causes.

Prof Na Cai

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Talk: "Genetics of depression: from statistical associations to molecular understanding"

Profile: Prof Dr Na Cai is the BRCCH Professor in Computational Medical Genomics. She is a statistical geneticist and her work focuses on the genetic underpinnings of psychiatric disorders, in particular major depression disorder. Prof Na Cai obtained her PhD at the Welcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford and continued with her postdoctoral studies at the Welcome Sanger Institute and EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute. Before moving to the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering of ETHZ, she led her own research group at Helmholtz Munich.

Seminar – Digital Approaches in Respiratory Research and Clinical Practice

Where: Seminar room U1.195– Biozentrum, University of Basel, Spitalstrasse 41, 4056 Basel

Registration: HERE

Directions and location information

Schedule:

- - Keynote by Prof Edgar Delgado-Eckert (University of Basel): "Applications of unsupervised and supervised learning in respiratory research"
  - Keynote by Prof Ioana M. Ciuca (Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Romania): "AI and lung ultrasound in children pneumonia"
  - Keynote by Prof Mihai Craiu (University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila", Romania): "Real life educational aspects of asthma management in children from Romania"
  - Q&A and Closing

Profile

Prof Edgar Delgado-Eckert is an adjunct professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Basel and a research group leader at University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB). His work is devoted to scientific research and also to teaching and mentoring students and postdoctoral researchers.

Prof Delgado-Eckert’s research interests revolve around applications of mathematical modelling, computer simulation and statistical analysis to biological and biomedical problems. He has used such computational approaches in order to study fundamental problems in the fields of virology, immunology and epidemiology, and he has also worked on questions concerning human (patho-)physiology with potential clinical implications, particularly in the field of respiratory medicine.

Prof Delgado-Eckert began his career at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, where he completed a master’s degree in mathematics with a minor in physics. He then moved to the USA, where he conducted his PhD research at Virginia Tech and the Tufts University Medical School in Boston. After completing his PhD, he became a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) at ETH Zurich. He was then awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Commission.

Prof Edgar Delgado-Eckert leads the BRCCH project: Alex: Design, Development and Evaluation of a Digital Health Assistant for Paediatric Asthma. Read more here.

Profile

Prof Ioana Ciuca, PhD, is a member of the Department of Pediatrics at the Victor Babeş University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Romania, and the Coordinator of the Pediatric Pneumology Training Programme. She is also a consultant paediatrician and the current Head of the Paediatric Pulmonology Unit at Clinical County Hospital Timisoara and is certified in paediatric respiratory medicine. She is the Vice President of the Romanian National Cystic Fibrosis Society and a member of several scientific societies, including the European Respiratory Society, the Romanian Society of Pulmonology, the European Society of Human Genetics and the Romanian Paediatric Society.

Prof Ciuca has written papers on paediatric respiratory medicine and has participated in studies of cystic fibrosis, including the European Centers of Reference Network for Cystic Fibrosis (ECORN-CF). She has also received five bursaries for training programmes and courses from the European Respiratory Society and three awards for the best poster presented at the Congress of International Pediatric Pulmonology (2019, 2022) and the King’s John Price Paediatric Respiratory Conference in London (2019). She is actively involved in the development of Romania’s paediatric pulmonology training programme. Her special interests are lung ultrasound, cystic fibrosis, asthma, child pneumonia, chronic cough and preschool wheezing.

Prof Ioana M. Ciuca is a Collaborator in the BRCCH project: Alex: Design, Development and Evaluation of a Digital Health Assistant for Paediatric Asthma. Read more here.

Profile

Prof Mihai Craiu is currently an associate professor at Carol Davila Medical School, Bucharest, Romania. He is a highly accomplished medical professional with a wealth of experience in the field of paediatrics and respiratory medicine. Prof Craiu has dedicated his career to improving paediatric healthcare and to the education of future healthcare professionals.

Currently serving as the Head of the Second Paediatric Clinic at Carol Davila Medical School in Bucharest, Romania, Prof Mihai Craiu has been actively engaged in various clinical and educational activities. He manages clinic operations, provides lectures to medical students in both Romanian and English modules, and imparts practical training in paediatric emergencies. His expertise extends to Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) training and the coordination of residents in the Emergency Department.

With a strong emphasis on teaching and research, Prof Craiu has contributed significantly to the medical community. He has published numerous papers and conducted clinical trials, particularly in the field of paediatric respiratory diseases.

Overall, Prof Craiu's career exemplifies a deep commitment to paediatric care, education, and research, making him a highly respected figure in the medical field.

Prof Mihai Craiu is a Collaborator in the BRCCH project: Alex: Design, Development and Evaluation of a Digital Health Assistant for Paediatric Asthma. Read more here.

BRCCH Course on Foundations of Paediatric Digital Health

How has the digital health revolution influenced paediatric care? Which digital interventions are suitable for improving the health and well-being of children and adolescents?

During this free course taught by experts from the Digital Health Unit at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, participants will explore the opportunities and challenges associated with the implementation of digital technologies for paediatric care. The course will be delivered through a blended approach, which consists of an online self-directed phase with preparatory materials followed by two half-day in-person sessions. At the end of the course, participants will be familiar with how to design, implement and evaluate digital health interventions for the paediatric population.

Location: BRCCH offices at Petersgraben 31, 4051 Basel, Switzerland

Registration: Please register HERE. The two-day course will only be delivered in person. The deadline for registration is 12:00 (CET) on 26 September. Registrations from those interested only in the online materials will not be accepted.

Course Objectives:

- Develop a broad understanding of the digital ecosystem and the role of digital technology in supporting improvements in paediatric health and well-being
- Critically explore potential benefits and risks of digital health for the paediatric population
- Learn approaches to user- and system-centred design of digital health interventions
- Be able to identify key objectives and appropriate methodologies for evaluating digital health interventions at different stages of development
- Examine ethical considerations and regulatory requirements for paediatric digital health interventions and research
- Develop and apply critical analysis skills relevant to paediatric digital health through analysis of real-world case studies

Course Programme:

- Introduction to digital health (definitions, WHO classification) and digital health interventions relevant to children and their caregivers, healthcare providers and health system managers
- Key Artificial Intelligence concepts relevant to paediatric digital health
- Approach to digital development
- Digital health evaluation objectives across the stages of intervention maturity
- Acceptability and usability of digital health interventions
- Efficacy and effectiveness evaluation
- Economic and sustainability evaluation
- Understanding the use of real-world data for evaluating digital health interventions
- Ethical and regulatory considerations for paediatric digital health

Additional topics may be covered during the sessions, depending on the background and interests of specific individuals participating in the course.

Seminar – Evidence in focus: using visual analytics to shape the future of insecticide-treated nets procurement

Where: Hybrid Zoom / Seminar room 5 – Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Kreuzstrasse 2, 4123 Allschwil

Zoom Registration: HERE

In Person Registration: HERE
Directions and location information

Schedule:

- - Keynote by Prof Sarah Moore (Swiss TPH): "Choosing wisely: cost-effectiveness as a driver for vector control innovation"
  - Keynote by Prof Philippe Cattin (University of Basel, Switzerland): "Artificial intelligence - based analysis of mosquito net digital photographs for automated monitoring"
  - Keynote by Emmanuel Mbuba (Swiss TPH): "Evaluating the durability of ultra-long lasting insecticidal nets: field progress and emerging insights"
  - Q&A and Closing
  - Networking Apéro

Profile

Prof Sarah Moore is a medical entomologist and group leader in the Vector Biology Unit at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). For the last 15 years, she has been based at the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) in Tanzania, where she leads the IHI Vector Control Product Testing Unit, which conducts laboratory studies, field trials and large-scale evaluations of interventions designed to protect individuals and communities from vector-borne diseases. Her research interests are focused on developing new and efficient ways to evaluate novel vector control technologies and on training the next generation of medical entomologists to tackle vector-borne diseases in a rapidly changing world.

Prof Sarah Moore leads the BRCCH project: ViALLIN: Visual Analysis of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets to Maximise Universal Access. Read more here.

Profile

Prof Philippe Cattin received his MSc in computer science in 1995 and his PhD in robotics in 2003 from ETH Zurich, where he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Computer Vision Laboratory (CVL) from 2003 to 2007. In 2007, he became an assistant professor at the University of Basel, where he was promoted to associate professor in 2015 and then to full professor in 2019. He is the founding and current Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Basel. In 2017, he was a research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA.

Prof Cattin’s research interests include medical image analysis, image-guided therapy, robotics-guided laser osteotomy and virtual reality. As a principal investigator, he has completed many projects in these areas and has published over 250 papers, patents and book chapters. He is also the founder of three spin-off companies and has licensed his patents and software to medical device companies.

Prof Philippe Cattin co- leads the BRCCH project: ViALLIN: Visual Analysis of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets to Maximise Universal Access. Read more here.

Profile

Emmanuel Mbuba is a research scientist at the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) in Tanzania, where he serves as a Deputy Head of the Vector Control Product Testing Unit (VCPTU). He leads several research studies on the evaluation of new vector control interventions including insecticide-treated bed nets (ITN), indoor residual sprays (IRS) and mosquito repellents. In 2017, he was appointed to lead the VCPTU’s Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) accreditation. In 2021, the VCPTU was awarded GLP accreditation for the efficacy testing of new vector control products. He is currently serving as a GLP Study Director in the VCPTU.

Mr Mbuba holds a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology and laboratory sciences and an MSc in molecular biology. He has several years of experience in the field of malaria and medical entomology. He is currently pursuing his PhD in epidemiology at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), where his research focuses on the field durability evaluation of piperonyl butoxide (PBO) ITNs and new methods for evaluating their durability in the field. He is interested in new vector control product development, evaluations and novel ways of testing and evaluating vector control interventions.

Emmanuel Mbuba is a Collaborator of the BRCCH project: ViALLIN: Visual Analysis of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets to Maximise Universal Access. Read more here.

University of Basel Seeks Professor of Systems Developmental Medicine (open rank)

visual: University of Basel, Mark Niedermann

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Basel, Switzerland invites applications for a Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Associate or Full Professor of Systems Developmental Medicine to be embedded in the BRCCH.

The BRCCH and its future Paediatric Digital Health Hub is a multi-disciplinary research centre creating new healthcare solutions for unmet medical needs related to communicable and non-communicable pathologies of significant burden to children and adolescents, irrespective of an individual's societal conditions.

Your position

The Professor of Systems Developmental Medicine will probe and integrate multi-omic data sets (i.e. genetic, epigenetic, transcriptional and metabolomic data) to create computational models defining the molecular signatures underpinning child development up to adolescence. By combining multidimensional molecular data with integrative computational methods, the professorship's research will contribute to a systems understanding of human development, mapping individual stages at single-cell resolution along an individual's health trajectory. This integrative approach will also define physiological variances of health trajectories and identify the developmental origins of disease states where age-specific, curative interventions and lifestyle adjustments can be implemented.

Your profile

The successful candidate will address gaps in our present understanding of paediatric system development and thus create an internationally competitive research program with an emphasis on clinical translation tailored to the specific needs of children and adolescents.
The selected post holder should have demonstrated an interdisciplinary academic work in Systems Medicine, that may include but it is not restricted to, the analysis of data at the molecular, cellular, tissue and organism level. Bioinformatic and/or systems-biological expertise is a requirement, whilst a clinical background combined with a profound molecular understanding of diseases is desired. Excellent academic performance and a proven record in acquiring competitive third-party funding relative to the applicant's career stage are essential qualifications. We expect a significant interest in student teaching and mentoring of junior scientists and the ability to create an attractive work environment that inspires creative thinking and mentors early career scientists and staff. Close collaborations are expected with clinical partners, scientists at the University of Basel, D-BSSE of ETH Zurich in Basel, all Departments of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Basel and within the Basel life sciences cluster. Excellent communication skills are an essential attribute of a successful appointee.
Possibilities for qualified and accredited clinician scientists to be clinically active (20%) can be considered.

The university offers you

The University of Basel offers you a unique opportunity to participate and shape interdisciplinary research related to child and adolescent health in a highly innovative and collaborative research environment.

The University of Basel stands out for excellence through diversity and is committed to equal opportunities, inclusive working practices and family friendliness.

Application / Contact

For further information, please contact the Chair of the Academic Recruitment Committee, Prof. Viola Heinzelmann-Schwarz (Phone: +41 61 265 90 99; Email: viola.heinzelmann@usb.ch) or the Scientific Coordinator of Academic Recruitment, Dr. Simone Neu (Phone: +41 61 207 61 64; Email: berufungen-medizin@unibas.ch).

Applications must be submitted by July 01, 2025.

We kindly ask you to apply exclusively via the online application platform of the University of Basel and as described in the application guidelines.

Dr Ece Özkan Elsen appointed as BRCCH Professor of Paediatric Digital Health Data Analysis

Dr Özkan Elsen’s research focuses on computational models that integrate medical images, clinical data, and additional modalities such as physiological signals to support clinicians in the diagnosis and management of paediatric diseases. Specifically, she aims to tackle the main challenges affecting the performance of machine learning models, including data scarcity, variability across datasets from different sources and algorithmic bias. By integrating multi-modal datasets and drawing inspiration from human behaviour, she will develop interpretable artificial intelligence-driven healthcare solutions that will contribute to advance precision medicine for children and adolescents.

Further details about Dr Özkan Elsen’s research interests can be found here.

Seminar 04 June 2025 – Feasibility and economics of improved child deworming with albendazole-ivermectin

Profile

Prof Jennifer Keiser heads the Helminth Drug Development Unit at Swiss TPH, which maintains a large and unique set of helminth-rodent models. She is also a Professor of Neglected Tropical Diseases in the Faculty of Science at the University of Basel. Her team’s research objectives include in vitro and in vivo evaluations of the biological activities of chemical compounds, assay development, preclinical studies such as pharmacokinetics and metabolism and clinical trials in helminthiasis-endemic countries, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Russia and Tanzania. Prof Keiser holds a five-year ERC Advanced Grant and is leading a five-year multi-partner EU grant to develop new drugs against neglected helminth infections.

Prof Jennifer Keiser leads the BRCCH project: FACEIT: Feasibility and Economic Evaluation of Improved Child Deworming. Read more here.

Profile

Dr Peter Steinmann is a trained epidemiologist and public health specialist and holds a habilitation (associate professorship) at the University of Basel. His research interests include the epidemiology and sustainable control of intestinal helminth and schistosome infections; the impact of intestinal parasite infections on child health, nutrition and well-being; the transmission of Mycobacterium leprae and post-exposure prophylaxis for contact and the elimination and eradication of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). He has a track record of work related to NTDs and public health in over two dozen countries over the last 15 years, including four years in China. He is currently deputy head of unit. His technical expertise includes NTD research and control programme implementation in China, Central and South-East Asia, Africa and Brazil, public health, WASH, health systems, data quality and surveillance and epidemiological surveys.

Prof Peter Steinmann co- leads the BRCCH project: FACEIT: Feasibility and Economic Evaluation of Improved Child Deworming. Read more here.

Profile

Prof Fabrizio Tediosi leads the Health Systems and Policies group in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and is a professor at the University of Basel. He holds a degree in economics and management from the University of Pavia, Italy, an MSc in health economics from the University of York, UK and a PhD in international public health from the University of Basel. He is an economist specializing in health policy analysis, the economic evaluation of priority setting, healthcare costing, the organization and financing of health systems, the economics of drugs, the economics of ageing and international development cooperation. His research interests also include universal health coverage, the economic and social implications of the elimination and eradication of neglected tropical diseases and global health governance.

Prof Fabrizio Tediosi co- leads the BRCCH project: FACEIT: Feasibility and Economic Evaluation of Improved Child Deworming. Read more here.

University of Basel Seeks Professor of Paediatric Infectious and Emerging Diseases Modelling

visual: University of Basel, Mark Niedermann

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Basel, Switzerland invites applications for a Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Associate or Full Professor of Paediatric Infectious and Emerging Diseases Modelling to be embedded in the BRCCH.

Your position

The successful candidate will develop an internationally competitive research programme in Paediatric lnfectious and/or Emerging Diseases Modelling with an emphasis on clinical translation tailored for the special needs of children and adolescents. You will develop novel, integrative disease modelling approaches to investigate factors that influence disease development and outcomes in paediatric populations across different geographical and socio-economic settings, with special emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. Close collaborations are expected with clinical partners, scientists at the University of Basel and ETH Zurich in Basel, and within the Basel life sciences cluster.

The Master and Ph.D. programmes of the University's Medical and Sciences Faculties provide opportunities for teaching (in English).

Your profile

We expect from the candidate a genuine interest in interdisciplinary academic work and several years of experience in mathematical and computational modelling of health-related and epidemiological data. Experience with modelling of paediatric infectious and other emerging diseases is advantageous. Excellent academic performance and a proven record in acquiring competitive third-party funding relative to the applicant's career stage are essential qualifications. We expect a significant interest in student teaching and mentoring of junior scientists at different stages of their academic careers. Key personality traits include excellent social and communication skills and an open, engaging and collegial personality. The candidate's distinctive expertise, leadership, and outstanding communication skills place him/her in an ideal position to gain acceptance and trust. He/she is able to create an attractive work environment, inspire creative thinking that can be put into action, and encourage his/her employees.

The university offers you

A unique opportunity for interdisciplinary research in a highly innovative and translational research environment enabling access to patients and academic bioinformatics facilities
A challenging and varied job in a university and clinical environment
An innovative, interdisciplinary and open research environment
A responsible leadership role
A collaborative environment conducive to interdisciplinary research
Attractive employment conditions
Attractive startup package and endowment for research

The University of Basel stands for excellence through diversity and is committed to equal opportunities and family friendliness. In an effort to increase the proportion of women in professorships, the university is particularly interested in receiving applications from women.

Application / Contact

For further information, please contact the chair of the Academic Recruitment Committee, Prof. Ulrich Heininger (Email: ulrich.heininger@ukbb.ch) or the Scientific Coordinator of Academic Recruitment, Dr. Simone Neu Phone: (Email: berufungen-medizin@unibas.ch; Phone: +41 61 207 61 64).

Applications must be submitted by November 20, 2024.

We kindly ask you to apply exclusively via the online application platform of the University of Basel and as described in the application guidelines.

Dr. Na Cai appointed as BRCCH Professor of Computational Medical Genomics

In February 2025, Dr. Na Cai will join the Basel Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH) as an Assistant Professor of Computational Medical Genomics. She is currently leading a research group at Helmholtz Pioneer Campus at the Technical University of Munich, where she investigates the genetic bases of psychiatric disorders, particularly Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). This debilitating mental disorder manifests in a wide range of clinical symptoms, including depressed mood, anhedonia or sleep disturbance. In spite of its high prevalence worldwide, the strong polygenic nature of MDD and its heterogenous symptomatology hinder the identification of the biological factors causing this disease

Leveraging clinical and genomic datasets from biobanks and electronic health records, Dr. Na Cai and her group have developed a new computational and statistical approach to associate genetic variants with symptoms-based MDD subtypes (e.g. childhood depression vs late onset of MDD). In the future, she aims at developing new computational models to predict disease trajectories of MDD as well as examining the impact of MDD genetic factors in the context of other psychiatric disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which often co-occurs with childhood MDD. Moreover, she will employ multi-omic approaches combined with machine learning methods to assess the impact of environmental risk factors such as childhood abuse or chronical social stress in individuals genetically predisposed to experience MDD.

Seminar 03 March 2025 – OptiThyDose: Intelligent Digital Decision Support Tool to Personalise Dosing for Children with Thyroid Diseases

Where: Seminarraum U1.191– Biozentrum, University of Basel, Spitalstrasse 41, 4056 Basel

Registration: HERE
Directions and location information

Schedule:

- - Welcome by Prof Marc Pfister (University Children's Hospital Basel, Switzerland)
  - Keynote by Prof Gabor Szinnai (University Children's Hospital Basel, Switzerland): "The clinical problem with thyroid diseases in children"
  - Keynote by Dr Britta Steffens (University Children's Hospital Basel, Switzerland): "The pharmacometric approach to solve the problem"
  - Keynote by Freya Bachmann (University of Konstanz, Germany): "The combination of pharmacometrics with optimal control theory"
  - Q&A and Closing
  - Networking Apéro

Profile

Prof Marc Pfister, MD, is a Professor of Pharmacometrics and Pharmacology in the Medical Faculty at the University of Basel, Chair of the Paediatric Pharmacology Department at University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB) and Head of SwissPedPha, the Swiss Platform for Pharmacology and Pharmacometrics Research in Paediatrics. He co-founded the American Conference on Pharmacometrics (ACoP) and the International Society of Pharmacometrics (ISoP). In the paediatric pharmacology research centre at UKBB, he leads a research group containing mathematicians, statisticians, engineers, pharmacologists and clinicians applying innovative pharmacometrics, control theory, machine learning and other AI-based approaches in order to develop clinical decision support systems with the goal of enhancing and personalizing treatments in neonates, infants, children and adolescents.

Prof Marc Pfister co-leads the BRCCH project: OptiThyDose: Intelligent Digital Decision Support Tool to Personalise Dosing for Children with Thyroid Diseases. Read more here.

Profile

Prof Gabor Szinnai is Head of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology at University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB) and a research group leader in the Department of Clinical Research at University Hospital Basel. He trained in paediatric endocrinology in Basel and at L’Hôpital Necker – Enfants Malades in Paris, France. He is a board member of the National Committee for Rare Diseases (KOSEK) in Switzerland. His longstanding research interests are thyroid diseases in childhood with a special focus on genetic thyroid diseases and individualized pharmacotherapy for patients with thyroid diseases from birth to adulthood. He is a member of the Consensus Guideline Group for Congenital Hypothyroidism of the ENDO-European Reference Network (ERN) Initiative endorsed by the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) and the European Society for Endocrinology (ESE). In 2012, he was awarded a Visiting Professorship Grant for Rare Endocrine Diseases by the ESPE.

Prof Gabor Szinnai co-leads the BRCCH project: OptiThyDose: Intelligent Digital Decision Support Tool to Personalise Dosing for Children with Thyroid Diseases. Read more here.

Profile

Dr. Britta Steffens studied mathematics at the University of Konstanz, Germany, specializing in statistics. She has more than 12 years of university-based experience in statistical modelling, pattern recognition and data analysis, as well as (undergraduate) teaching. In 2020, she joined the Paediatric Pharmacology Department at University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB) as an interdisciplinary scientific researcher. Her main research topics are the analysis and modelling of clinical data in the context of developing decision support tools by applying mathematical-statistical methods and approaches from pharmacometrics and machine learning.

Dr. Britta Steffens is a researcher in the BRCCH project: OptiThyDose: Intelligent Digital Decision Support Tool to Personalise Dosing for Children with Thyroid Diseases. Read more here.

Profile

Freya Bachmann is a PhD student in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Konstanz, Germany. In collaboration with University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB), she applies techniques from optimal control theory and numerical optimization to pharmacometric models in order to compute optimal individualized dosing regimens. In 2019, she received the American Conference on Pharmacometrics Trainee Award for outstanding research and gave an oral presentation of her work entitled “Computing the Optimal Individual Dosing Regimen with Constraints on Model States to Include Side Effects” at the main conference in Florida.

Freya Bachmann is a researcher in the BRCCH project: OptiThyDose: Intelligent Digital Decision Support Tool to Personalise Dosing for Children with Thyroid Diseases. Read more here.

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PhD Position

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Speakers:

University of Basel Seeks Professor of Paediatric Infectious and Emerging Diseases Modelling

Dr. Na Cai appointed as BRCCH Professor of Computational Medical Genomics

Seminar 03 March 2025 -Personalising Dosing for Children with Thyroid Diseases

Speakers:

Seminar - Bridging Early Detection and Innovation in Adolescent Mental
Health: Current Research & Emerging Digital Solutions