Annual Report 2020

Balgrist Campus - research infrastructure of national importance

From March, 2020 was dominated by the Corona pandemic. The lockdown in the second quarter resulted in almost all research projects being interrupted, postponed indefinitely or cancelled altogether, which in turn was reflected in the utilization figures of the open research platforms SCMI (Swiss Center for Musculoskeletal Imaging), SCMB (Swiss Center for Musculoskeletal Biobanking) and SCMA (Swiss Center for clinical Movement Analysis). However, this was made up for in the last third of the year: the platform leaders were able to continue project acquisition or plan for 2021 together with potential customers, so that all three centers were able to increase their revenues (user fees) compared to the previous year. Unchanged from the previous year, the majority of service research in the platforms - with the exception of the Biobank - originates from the Balgrist Campus or Balgrist University Hospital.

The first period of support from the federal government (2017-2020) expired at the end of the year. In December, we received the hoped-for positive decision that we would be able to continue to receive federal support as a "research infrastructure of national importance" also from 2021 to 2024, enabling us to continue to operate the three platforms within the current framework.

Increasing visibility for external groups and researchers is an important goal of all three platforms. Since 2020, the platform leaders have participated in the "CLC Core Leader Conference" at the University of Zurich. It remains a goal to establish the platforms as "Core Infrastructure" of UZH and ETH. In this context, we have also decided to use the booking system EZBooking, which is already widely used within UZH and ensures that the infrastructures can be booked easily and directly from external parties.

The Swiss Center for Musculoskeletal Imaging (SCMI) team, led by Prof. Daniel Nanz, functions as an independent research and development unit as well as a research service provider. During the year under review, the group developed 2 "work-in-progress" software packages (pulse sequences for improved standard imaging at 7T and for imaging tendons, ligaments, and cortical bone at all field strengths), which have been installed at over two dozens Siemens sites worldwide. Group members published one case report as lead authors and 5 peer-reviewed articles as co-authors during the year. SCMI achievements were acknowledged in 11 peer-reviewed publications. Daniel Nanz presented SCMI at the IT'IS Foundation Research Seminar and taught in the Neuroimaging Block Course at the Neuroscience Center Zurich. Test measurements for research groups of the University Hospital Zurich (Neurology and Neuroradiology) were performed on several occasions. At the end of 2020, there were close to 50 research projects in active progress at the SCMI.

Dr. Sander Botter from the Swiss Center for Musculoskeletal Biobanking (SCMB) expanded his team in 2020 by hiring a research assistant for a commercial project, further strengthening the collaboration with this industry client. In the SCMB, 36 projects were managed during the reporting year; one project was successfully completed. Tailor-made Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were created for each project to guarantee high quality of the stored samples. The staff was able to present 3 peer-reviewed articles this year as well as other activities / publications (without peer-review) with the aim of further increasing the level of awareness of our biobank. This contributed to significantly increased user revenues compared to the previous year. The SCMB - as well as the other two centers - attaches great importance to the continuous training of its staff. This year, for example, courses in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and further training courses of the Swiss Biosafety Network were successfully completed. Last but not least, the cooperation with the Swiss Biobanking Network remains very important, as the SCMB aims to make all the necessary arrangements for the biobank to be certified next year, in order to be able to document and prove the commitment to quality.

The Swiss Center for clinical Movement Analysis (SCMA) is headed by Dr. Linard Filli and offers - analog to the SCMI - on the one hand research services and on the other hand conducts active research projects. In the last two years, the SCMA has conducted systematic investments and developed into a unique, highly specialized center for movement analysis in the field of orthopedic, neurological and chiropractic movement disorders providing cutting-edge-technology for a precise quantification of movements. A key aspect of the platform modernization was the realization of everyday movement scenarios (e.g. by virtual reality or mobile sensors for measurements in the homesetting) which makes the SCMA an attractive, unique research center for clinical movement analysis. The SCMA platform is used by various research groups from Balgrist University Hospital, the University of Zurich as well as the ETH Zurich to conduct clinical research projects. User contributions for SCMA services in 2020 increased significantly compared to the previous year. SCMA was represented by 7 publications in 2020 (4 papers by platform users, 3 papers on own SCMA research). The center's own research activities are supported by motivated students from the University of Zurich and ETH.

Finance

The fifth year of operation was concluded with a slight surplus. On the income side, rental income was increased slightly. In 2020, the Balgrist Foundation again very generously covered the entire costs of the Guest Sabbatical Program of Prof. Navab of the Technical University in Munich.

On the expenses side, personnel and operating costs of the new infrastructures are covered by contributions from the federal government. With the completion of the first four years of federal support, funds totaling CHF 3.7 million were shifted from operating costs to equipment costs and recorded as a valuation allowance. For these equipment investment costs, we received a bridge loan of CHF 7 million from the ZKB, which compensates for the time between the procurement of the equipment for the new three infrastructures and the staggered receipt of the federal funds (until 2024). In addition, the loans from the Swiss Balgrist Association and the Balgrist Foundation continue to exist.

In the year under review, invoicing and payments were digitized using the modular ERP system Abacus. Accounting and payments continued to be handled by Interconsulta AG, Zurich. The audit was carried out by the selected Lienhard Audit AG.

Tenants at Balgrist Campus

Since 2019, the Balgrist Campus is fully booked with only few spaces remaining. In 2020, we welcomed a new start-up to the Balgrist Campus as well as a company working in the regulatory environment. In addition, we were able to extend a 5-year lease for another 5 years and expand the rental space of one tenant.

Organization

At the 9th Annual General Assembly on June 18th, 2020, all motions of the Board of Directors were adopted/confirmed. Since the amendment of the statutes in the previous year, the Swiss Confederation has had observer status on the Board of Directors (without voting rights) as part of its support for the three platforms. Balgrist Campus AG appreciates the good cooperation with the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support.

The Board of Directors held four meetings in 2020. In addition to the dynamic effects and corresponding measures due to the Corona pandemic, the discussions focused on the finances of the Balgrist Campus and the three infrastructures SCMI, SCMB and SCMA, the space allocations at the Balgrist Campus (including the decision that the project "Simulation Operating Room" will be passed on to the Balgrist Association and the Balgrist University Hospital and will not be realized at the Balgrist Campus), as well as the expiration of the guarantee for the Balgrist Campus construction project and any pending items on the list of deficiencies.

The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) did not meet in 2020.

The Board of Directors and Management would like to thank all employees and users of the Campus for their excellent cooperation and especially all supporters for their substantial help, without which research at the highest level would not be possible.