Medizinische Fakultät

Universitätskliniken Inselspital

Department of Cardiac Surgery

Inselspital Bern

The Department is the largest cardiac surgery center in Switzerland. It focuses on coronary artery bypass surgery, valve surgery with valve-preserving reconstruction procedures, treatment of the entire spectrum of congenital heart defects in children and adults, thoracic aortic surgery, rhythm surgery, and heart failure surgery.

To the Inselspital website

Profile

  • The Department of Cardiac Surgery, integral to the cardiovascular center, interfaces with the departments of cardiology, vascular surgery and angiology to address the full spectrum of congenital and acquired cardiac diseases. Facilitated by the establishment of disease-centered teams comprising surgical, interventional, diagnostic and ward doctors who work together to provide optimal patient care, this collaborative, interdisciplinary approach provides the ideal environment to foster advancement in individualized and state-of-the-art cardiovascular medicine.
  • We are committed to providing a high-quality training environment at multiple levels – from courses for medical students (clinical skills, problem-based learning) including Master in Medicine and MD Dissertation supervision, to residency programs and specialty, post-graduate education. Individualized PhD and MD-PhD training programs are created in conjunction with the Cardiovascular Research PhD Specialization Program and graduate schools of the University of Bern.
  • Our dynamic clinical and translational research teams focus on investigating multiple cardiac and vascular disease mechanisms and developing innovative therapeutic approaches, and comprise core members of the Cardiovascular Disease Program and the Cluster for Cardiovascular Research Bern.

Grants

  • Strategic Funding Board of the Faculty of Medicine, UniBe. “Ex-vivo Heart Perfusion – Technology that innovates cardiac transplantation and precision therapies”: CHF 750,000; 2022-2025 (Principal Applicant)
  • SNSF. “Cardiac metabolism as a basis for sex differences in ischemic tolerance and a target for reperfusion therapy in heart transplantation with donation after circulatory death”: CHF 632,000; Project Grant, 2022-2026 (Principal Applicant)
  • SNSF. “Cardiac graft preservation and evaluation in transplantation with donation after circulatory death”: CHF 189,902; MD-PhD Grant, 2021-2024 (Principal Applicant)
  • SNSF. “Unravelling consequences of SARS-CoV-2 mediated inflammatory immune responses in heart and vasculature”: CHF 1,951,700; NRP 78 Covid-19, 2020-2023 (Project Partner; PI Y. Döring, Angiology)
  • Swiss Heart Foundation. “New approaches for evaluation of cardiac grafts obtained with donation after circulatory death: the era of machine perfusion”: CHF 90,000; Research Grant, 2021-2023 (Principal Applicant)
  • Swiss Heart Foundation. “Sex- and age-specific effects on cardiac graft quality in DCD heart transplantation: Studies in a porcine model”: CHF 80,000; Research Grant, Awarded 2023 (Principal Applicant)
  • Swiss-European Mobility Programme – Staff Mobility for Training (University of Bern). CHF 5,056; 2023 (Principal Applicant - Host Institute)