The new name marks the BRCCH’s transition into a groundbreaking paediatric digital health research hub based in Basel
Today, the Botnar Research Centre for Child Health announces its new name effective immediately - the Basel Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH). The Centre was originally named to recognise the generosity of Fondation Botnar, which has donated CHF 150 million to establish and support the paediatric health research activities of the BRCCH. The new name acknowledges the BRCCH’s transition to a paediatric digital health hub in Basel, as well as the city’s importance to the Centre’s past and present achievements.
The BRCCH was established in 2019 to drive outstanding and innovative paediatric health research that improves the health of children and young people, especially those living in low- and middle-income countries. Over the last four years, almost 80 researchers from the BRCCH’s partner institutions – the University of Basel, ETH Zurich, the University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB) and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) – have launched 29 interinstitutional research consortia aligned with this mission. Examples of project research topics include bioengineering bacteria to survey the gut microbiome, implementing digital health tools to enhance early childhood development in low- and middle-income countries and developing digital techniques to improve cleft lip and palate care.
The BRCCH is now transitioning into one of the first academic research centres in the world dedicated to interdisciplinary paediatric digital health research. At the core of this centre will be six newly appointed professors – three affiliated with the University of Basel and three affiliated with ETH Zurich – with expertise in biomolecular systems engineering, data analytics, systems developmental medicine, disease modelling, computational medical genomics and ethics and policy. These specialists will foster collaborations to address some of the biggest challenges facing paediatric health care today. An early career programme will also support emerging researchers to build global research capacity in this field.
“We are grateful to Fondation Botnar for their visionary philanthropy and the confidence they have shown in the work of the BRCCH to date,” says Professor Georg Holländer, Director of the BRCCH. “Through this transition and with this new name, we look forward to establishing Basel as an internationally recognised location for exceptional paediatric digital health research.”
