Welcome Prashantha!

Zurich, 20 June 2025

We welcomeDr. Prashantha Hebbar to our network of international collaborators. Prashantha is the Director ofMeta Biosciences, based in Manipal, India, and serves as an Adjunct Faculty at theManipal Academy of Higher Education.

Nowadays, establishing international partnerships for clinical research is not only a strategic advantage but often a necessity. The complexity of contemporary biomedical research requires specialised expertise that is rarely consolidated within a single local team. Even when such expertise is available within the same institution, these resources are often already fully committed due to personnel shortages and institutional budgetary constraints.

While funding from major sources, such as the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF, remains essential, it rarely covers the breadth of specialised personnel needed for cutting-edge translational research. Forming targeted external collaborations through research agreements enables us to access critical expertise in a flexible, scalable, and cost-efficient manner, ensuring both scientific rigor and operational efficiency.

Through this collaboration, Prashantha will lead the bioinformatics analysis of theOXYGUT project and support the interpretation of metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data provided byPD Dr. Felix Sommer’s team atUniversity Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH). 

This partnership was facilitated by the support I received from the Swissnex in India, Consulate General of Switzerland, whoseAcademia-Industry Training program is designed to strengthen institutional ties and promote scientific exchange between Switzerland and India.