Swiss Personalized Health Network. Report from the National Steering Board 2016–2019

The Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN) initiative was launched in 2016 on behalf of the Confederation to set up a national research infrastructure for interoperable health data. The report of the SPHN National Steering Board 2016 – 2019 presents the infrastructures, technologies and methods developed during the first funding period to enable research with large amounts of sensitive data in a responsible, ethical and legally compliant manner. It further presents the results of an in-depth analysis of the challenges of data driven health research in the Swiss federalist system and formulates the steps that must be taken to build a sustainable ecosystem for personalized health.

The second funding period 2021 – 2024, supported by the Confederation with CHF 67 million, will focus on the integration of data from clinical routine, the consolidation and long-term financing of SPHN infrastructures, the implementation of harmonized standards, processes and principles for secure data exchange and the demonstration of the infrastructures value through scientific lighthouse projects.

The SPHN initiative is led by the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences jointly with the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, in collaboration with several partners.