BRIDGE Discovery 2025: The University of Basel researchers drive innovation

The BRIDGE Discovery programme funds Swiss researchers to transform scientific breakthroughs into societal and economic benefits. In its 2025 call, the programme funded 15 innovative projects, from access to justice to health, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration. Researchers from the University of Basel are taking part in four projects.

The Family Gene Toolkit project is led by Maria C. Katapodi (Department Clinical Research) in collaboration with Florina M. Ciorba (Department of Mathematics and Computer Science) and Maria Caiata-Zufferey from SUPSI. This innovative digital service will improve outcomes of genetic care by streamlining clinician workflow, educating families about the genetic predisposition to cancer, and facilitating cascade genetic testing among at-risk relatives. The integration of artificial intelligence enhances clinical efficiency, patient follow-up, and long-term cancer risk management. The toolkit is designed to make genetic care more accessible and cost-effective, addressing a critical gap in healthcare.

Gregor Hutter’s (Department Biomedicine) project, the Development of Multifunctional CAR-T Cells for the Treatment of Solid Tumours, represents a cutting-edge approach to cancer therapy. It aims to develop a multi-targeting strategy based on engineered T cells to overcome the challenges posed by the heterogeneous microenvironment of solid tumors. Such multifunctional CAR-T cells represent a valuable therapeutic strategy for targeting difficult-to-treat solid tumors.

Another project is the Patient-specific hydrogel-based corneal augmentation for vision restoration, led by the University of Bern in collaboration with EPFL and University of Basel. Ferda Canbaz and Georg Rauter, two Department of Biomedical Engineering members, will be contributing to the project. This project introduces an innovative surgical approach to treat keratoconus and potentially high myopia by injecting hydrogel into the cornea. The procedure uses personalized software to ensure precise and predictable outcomes, and could one day treat the one billion people expected to suffer from high myopia in the coming years.

Viktor Kölzer, Medical Co-Director of the Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, and Investigator at the Department of Biomedical Engineering is involved in the PolAInsight project, led by the University of Bern. This initiative focuses on cancer detection in biopsy tissue using AI-based automated Mueller Matrix polarimetry. Traditional methods are limited by high error rates and long processing times. PolAInsight aims to overcome these challenges by developing an AI-driven system that improves the accuracy and speed of cancer diagnosis during surgeries, ultimately reducing costs and improving patient outcomes