Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine (sitem-insel)

sitem-insel is the Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine. It houses a diverse range of clinical, industrial, research, and educational entities that pursue innovation for the benefit of patients under one roof.

The sitem-insel institute was founded in 2014 as a public-private partnership institution. It is located on the Insel Campus Bern and benefits from its proximity to one of the biggest Swiss university hospitals (Inselspital) and the University of Bern.

The vision is to “Bring Innovation to the Patient by Connecting People”. This was the basis for establishing, operating, and developing a national center of excellence for translational medicine, which would professionalize translation research for the benefit of patients, society, and science. Within the building, sitem-insel offers access to state-of-the-art laboratories and offices and its infrastructure lends itself to training and events.

Research is intended to benefit the patient as quickly as possible and to the highest of standards. This means creating structures that allow ideas from research to be implemented in such a way that they can be successfully brought to market. The boundaries are fluid; it is the prompt and meaningful networking of stakeholders that brings about success.

A range of entities with around 450 clinical, industrial, research, teaching, and service staff come together under the one roof to create the sitem-insel community. The InnoMeter is an instrument that makes the impressive innovative performance and success of all the entities measurable and visible.

Strategic priorities comprise the areas of innovation, research and, professional development through the sitem-insel School and the sitem-insel CATR. 

In-house research, research funding, and the associated services and networking activities with two professorships at the University of Bern: the Professorship for Regulatory Affairs based at the KPM Center for Public Management and the Professorship for Applied Data Science and Decision Support Systems based at the Faculty of Medicine.

The Innovation department comprises three sections:

• Firstly, the support of projects through strategic advice and project management, as well as networking within our ecosystems for medtech startups and SMEs.
• Secondly, support for an innovation culture by organizing events, such as the Swiss Translational Medicine Conference.
• And thirdly, creating points of contact with national and international partners through active participation in various nationwide conferences and events. These commitments serve as valuable platforms for networking and identifying potential new partners. 

The sitem-insel School offers professional development for researchers and executives in the fields of “Translational Medicine and Biomedical Entrepreneurship”, “Regulatory Affairs and Quality Management”, and “Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging”. 

The sitem-insel CATR is a state-of-the-art wet lab that offers high-quality advanced surgical training as well as the development of medical products in cooperation with industry and academia.