Urs Frey: "I prefer it when my colleagues are put in the spotlight"

Urs Frey, it's an extraordinary year for you to receive the most important prize in Swiss paediatrics. Because of corona, it will now be six months before you can accept it. Do you already know what exactly you are being honoured for?

The Guido Fanconi Memorial Prize usually honours achievements that have contributed to a better overall situation for paediatrics in Switzerland. In my case, it's probably about clinical research.

Does that mean you don't yet have a detailed explanation from the jury?

No, that will probably only be available in November at the official award ceremony.

The list of previous prizewinners includes names such as Beat Richner and Remo Largo, who have achieved great fame even outside specialist circles. Doesn't the prize also recognise your life's work?

Well, that sounds like an "end of career" to me - thank you very much! I still have a lot planned. But no, it simply takes a lot of teamwork to win an award like this. This is the collective work of many colleagues who have worked together to make things better. I think we paediatricians are particularly good at working together. We know each other and have short lines of communication. That's what makes paediatrics in Switzerland so special.

"Swiss paediatrics is now doing very well in terms of clinical research."

You don't seem to be entirely innocent. In the brief announcement from the award organisers, it says that you have been committed to successful collaboration within Swiss paediatrics for years.

Well, I spent eight years in the Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation. There I tried to support the development of clinical research. Research projects by paediatricians have long received too little support. This is despite the fact that many chronic diseases originate in early childhood and paediatric studies can contribute a great deal to our understanding of disease development.

Why is clinical research so difficult when it is so important?

I think Swiss paediatrics is now doing very well in terms of clinical research. But it is also a little difficult. In order to have enough patients for studies, several centres have to work together. This requires suitable infrastructure and functioning networks.

And what do we have now?

I think I have actually been able to make a contribution here. For example with the SwissPedNetwhich I was involved in founding. The large university clinics and hospitals have managed to set up such a network, from which clinical trials can be conducted more easily.

Also with the Swiss Personalised Health Network It is about a suitable structure for patient-orientated research. You chair the highest steering committee.

Exactly. In an interdisciplinary group, we are trying to find ways to make health data usable for personalised medicine - in an ethically responsible manner and in compliance with the law and data protection regulations. Of course, very different interests clash in some cases. Be it on the part of the universities and ETH, the hospitals or even the federal government. Bringing all this together productively is definitely a complex task and requires a lot of planning, mediation and strategic work. But I really enjoy bringing together different perspectives and communicating to people the added value that results from this.

"Creating an environment for young colleagues in which they can improve is one of the best things you can do in my phase of life."

You are involved in numerous areas of paediatrics. What drives you?

I'm just really curious. That's why I love research. And I really enjoy working with others, especially younger colleagues. Creating an environment in which they can improve is one of the best things you can do in my phase of life. That motivates me enormously.

Her main topics are asthma and lung development in infants and young children. How did this come about?

It all started in the nineties. I specialised in paediatric pneumology and immersed myself in medical engineering. I found technical devices very exciting. When I was in England, we wanted to measure the lung function of babies. That was extremely difficult at the time. We developed the first devices and new techniques in the garage, so to speak. And with them, we were suddenly able to tackle more and more questions. How does asthma develop? Why do babies have impaired lung function at such an early age? This opened up a huge field of research. For me personally, it was also about my political interest in environmental protection issues.

Together with a research group, they were among the first to demonstrate the link between air pollution and impaired lung function in infants.

There is definitely an effect on the lungs shortly after birth. In the so-called BILD study For over 15 years, we have been collecting data from healthy infants and have been able to observe the effects of air pollutants. There is very little such data worldwide. Rather, the influence of such environmental factors has been investigated in people who are already ill. We can now predict which child will develop a lung disease such as asthma and show how influential environmental factors are in the development of a healthy infant, sometimes into adulthood. Our data currently indicate that air pollution influences the natural bacterial flora in the upper respiratory tract and the immune system. If this is confirmed, it would be dramatic.

That sounds as if politicians should be following the findings closely. Is it doing so?

Yes. But politics is what it is. Their task is to balance different interests. We have been publishing data on environmental influences for years and making our findings visible - just like many other researchers. In recent weeks, for example, we have had exemplary cooperation with politicians with regard to the Covid situation.

"Part-time models simply have to be possible today, especially in a paediatric hospital."

You mention the corona crisis. In your opinion, what is the current situation at UKBB?

We are very well positioned. Above all thanks to the incredible flexibility and support of our employees. It took great courage from many of them when it wasn't really clear what danger they were exposing themselves to. That really impressed me. And I believe we managed to implement appropriate measures and maintain a reasonable level of calm. At the moment, it's all about perseverance. Since the school openings many cutbacks due tobecause banal infections actually have to be tested for the new coronavirus. We hardly have any cases. Currently, no child has to be hospitalised for coronavirus.

A few days ago, several women's demonstrations took place in Switzerland. You recently campaigned for gender-equitable language at UKBB and have long been an advocate for the advancement of women. Are you a classic do-gooder?

Hardly. With my two daughters and a great partner, I simply have three women at home who sensitise me to gender issues every day (laughs). Seriously, these are important issues. Just one example: when my first daughter was still small, I was a senior doctor in Bern and "only" worked 80 per cent. That was considered impossible at the time. But somehow it worked - and it helped enormously. Such models simply have to be possible today, especially at a paediatric hospital. Of course, you can't always do everything straight away, otherwise patient care will suffer at some point. But with sensible communication and transparency, a lot is possible. Particularly in paediatrics, which has a very high proportion of women, more women need to take on management positions in the coming years.

What else is close to your heart as Medical Director of the UKBB?

In my view, things are going so well at UKBB because we have an exceptionally positive working culture - despite the high level of pressure that is repeatedly placed on our employees, and not just in times of coronavirus. The various professional groups work in a network - doctors, nursing staff, administration, everyone. And I have to say: I haven't seen many hospitals where surgery, orthopaedics, anaesthesia and paediatrics work together as harmoniously as at UKBB. Of course, it also depends on the individual people. Many of them are really good friends. That gives me great pleasure and I hope it stays that way.

"I'm by far the worst in my band"

You attach great importance to togetherness. So much so that you almost refused to talk to us on the occasion of the Fanconi Prize...

... I prefer it when my colleagues are put in the spotlight. My favourite thing anyway is when I'm not needed at all. That has to be the goal in my role: to set up structures so that everything works, even when I'm not there.

How now? So you can take a sabbatical?

I've actually already done that! And it worked.

Despite your modesty, you don't shy away from the stage. You play with the band Conference  I like to perform big, regularly at "Bebbi sym Jazz", for example. Where do you find the time?

It's a sanctuary. Once a week, on a Monday evening, nobody has to want anything from me. Then it's just the band. These are good friendships. I've actually always been in bands, even as a teenager. And I still like doing it.

What is your role in the band? Do you set the beat?

No, that's just great. I'm the absolute worst. I don't have to do anything, I'm just allowed to join in.

The Fanconi Prize is endowed with 10,000 francs. Do you already have plans for what you want to do with it?

Uh, I have to confess: I haven't even looked at whether it has to be spent for a specific purpose.

Perhaps for a nice meal with your wife?

I will definitely go out for a big meal with her. But I also have two daughters who love to eat well. I'm sure they'll want to come too.