Medical technology innovation

Effective transfer to clinical practice

ETH Zurich has defined health and medicine as a strategic action area, with over 100 professorships conducting research in this field. Their work involves close collaboration with medical practitioners, an approach that adheres to ETH’s fundamental belief in linking basic research with practical applications: indeed, when it comes to technology transfer, we reach out to partners of all kinds, whether in industry, professional associations or, as here, hospitals.

Besides interdisciplinary teams, this also calls for people operating at the interfaces. In terms of professorships, for example, this requires one person holding two positions simultaneously, one at a hospital and one at ETH. After all, knowledge of both sides leads to shorter transfer paths.

In other words, get the structures right and translation will inevitably be faster. An excellent example here is Volkmar Falk, who acts as both Medical Director of the German Heart Center Berlin and Professor of Translational Cardiovascular Technologies at ETH. Read on to learn more about this trailblazer and others making advancements in medicine to enhance patients’ well-being.