First cohort successfully completed!

We are very proud to announce that the first cohort successfully completed the CAS in Sex- and Gender-Specific Medicine last February 15. In innovative and exciting presentations, participants shared their final projects and demonstrated how they plan to integrate sex- and gender-specific medicine into their practice and research in the future. The topics were very diverse and ranged from sex-specific changes in cardiac morphology and function in mice to surveys on awareness of sex, gender and gender roles in medical research and practice to gender-specific reappraisal of osteoporosis guidelines. We were very impressed and sincerely thank all speakers and participants of the first cohort for their engagement.

Registration open for second cohort!

Register now for the second cohort of the CAS in “Sex- and Gender-Specific Medicine” starting in March 2022! In a total of eleven modules – which can also be attended as individual events – the importance of gender for the various medical disciplines will be demonstrated. Participants will learn tools and concepts to provide personalised and evidence-based prophylaxis and therapy for all sex and genders and to design research accordingly.

Register now: Registration form

Important news regarding course language and event organisation

All modules will now be in held in English and are organised as hybrid events (simultaneous online and, if pandemic circumstances permit, onsite)

Following on from feedback received from our key target audience, the programme leadership have decided to implement the following changes:

    • All composite modules of the CAS will be held in English. This makes participation possible for interested persons from all parts of the country as well as from other countries. Depending on the participants and particularly in group work, this can be handled flexibly. In consultation with the supervisors, final written assignments in other languages are also possible.
    • All modules of the CAS will be organised as hybrid events, i.e. simultaneous onsite and online events. In practice, this will mean that, if the Covid-19 situation permits, the modules will take place onsite. In addition, online participation is available for all modules.

Please also note that no previous knowledge in sex- and gender-specific medicine is expected in order to attend the CAS.

We are looking forward to exciting discussions, enriched by the different backgrounds and experiences of the participants.

The impact of sex and gender on COVID-19 outcomes in Europe

Cathérine Gebhard, chair of the scientific programme management of the CAS, published a review on the impact of sex and gender on COVID-19 outcomes in Europe. In collaboration with Sabra Klein, Vera Regitz-Zagrosek, Rosemary Morgan, and Hannelore Neuhauser she discusses potential sex-specific mechanisms modulating the course of disease. The article is published in “Biology of Sex Differences”:  https://rdcu.be/b4sMZ

 

Project to investigate the impact of Sex and Gender on COVID-19-outcomes funded

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. sc. nat. Cathérine Gebhard, chair of the course directors of the CAS in Sex- and Gender-Specific Medicine, investigates the impact of Sex and Gender on COVID-19 outcomes. The Swiss National Foundation supports the project “Impact of Sex and Gender on COVID-19 outcomes: Role of ACE-2, TMPRSS2, and gender-specific risk factors” (Project), submitted by Gebhard together with Prof. Dr. med. Beatrice Beck Schimmer, one of the initiators of the CAS, CAS-lecturer Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Vera Regitz and colleagues.

The gender disparities observed in COVID-19 vulnerability clearly emphasize the need to understand the impact of sex and gender on incidence and case fatality of the disease so that treatment in highly vulnerable demographic groups can be timely and tailored to their specific needs. The project will combine clinical data from ongoing cohort studies with retrospective experimental work in mice with. This strategy allows rapid analysis of data and implementation of results. The work will identify both, biological sex- and gender-related predictors of severe variants of COVID-19 and has the potential to contribute to the identification of effective antiviral interventions.