Mission and activities

The Clinical Studies Group of the Infectious Diseases Service was established in 1993. It consists of a coordinator (physician) and from four to six assistant doctors according to the number of clinical studies underway.

The Clinical Studies Group of the Infectious Diseases Service was established in 1993. It consists of a co-ordinator (physician) and from four to six assistant doctors according to the number of clinical studies underway.

The Group's main aim is to take part in the development of new therapies for infectious diseases. It undertakes phase I-II, phase II, phase III and phase IV protocols and has already been involved in 45 different studies.

Studies undertaken

• The clinical trials of new antibiotics (for example new fluoroquinolones such as moxifloxacine, gatifloxacine, BMS 14-464 and Linezolid)
   
• Comparative studies on the effectiveness of different antibiotics
   
• The cost-effectiveness of monotherapies and double therapies (for example studies on the treatment of peritonitis and hospital-acquired pneumonia
   
• Co-adjuvant septicaemia treatment using inhibitors of septicaemia and protein C mediators
   
• New treatments for flu (neuraminidase inhibitors, for example) and the development of new flu vaccines

The Group's other objectives

• To provide training on clinical-research basics, including: preparing a research protocol, the implementation of a clinical study, the identification of the necessary infrastructures, establishing a case-report form, data analysis, co-ordination with other services (for example the hospital pharmacy), submissions to the ethical committee and other institutions.
   
• To make data provided by the team accessible for theses and publications.
   
• To collect data on the use of antibiotics in Swiss university hospitals and to take part, as an active member, in the Antibiotics Committee of the Swiss Society for Infectious Diseases.
   
• To offer scholarships to qualified doctors from Eastern Europe who take part in the Group's research and clinical activities and who are studying infectious diseases and the planning and implementation of clinical research. These doctors work closely with  the coordinator. They are encouraged to write papers for presentation and publication and to draft abstracts for international conferences. This is one of the Group's major activities, as it enables qualified doctors to complete their clinical training and encounter new ideas in a different socio-cultural context while opening the opportunity of creating a co-operative network of colleagues. This programme started in 1996.

Current research projects