Projects

Vaccination records in Switzerland are largely paper-based, handwritten, and variable in format, making them susceptible to loss and errors and limiting their usefulness for clinical decision-making and public health surveillance. The project team is developing an AI-powered pipeline to digitize handwritten children’s vaccination cards into CH VACD-conformant HL7 FHIR/JSON data, enabling real-time capture, batch processing, and integration with a physician app and a standardized database to support clinical workflows and nationwide vaccination surveillance.
More information please find here

This project is closely linked to our project funded by the Population Research Center Seed Grant "Digitizing Swiss Vaccination Cards with Large Language Models"

Project lead: Phung Lang (EBPI), Dunja Nicca (EBPI), Yanick Lukic (ZHAW School of Engineering), Sandra Köhli Weber (Head Schulärztlicher Dienst des KtZH) 
Funding: DIZH

Digital transformation is a public health priority, yet vaccination records in Switzerland remain largely paper-based and handwritten, limiting their use for clinical care and surveillance despite national efforts to integrate health data into systems such as the Electronic Patient Dossier. We propose to digitize Swiss paediatric vaccination cards by developing and evaluating an AI-based pipeline that converts handwritten records into structured, interoperable (HL7 FHIR) data. This project will assess the accuracy and robustness of the approach and establish a high-quality annotated dataset to support real-time vaccination surveillance, coverage monitoring, and evidence-based immunization policy, while laying the foundation for future digital health initiatives.
More information please findhere

This project is closely linked to our project funded by the DIZH Grant "Digital Transformation of Handwritten Child Vaccination Cards to Support Immunization Practice & Surveillance in Switzerland"

Project lead: Phung Lang (EBPI), Sintieh Ekongefeyin (Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care)
Funding: Population Research Center (PRC)

Despite high vaccination coverage, measles and mumps cases continue to occur among individuals who have received two doses of MMR vaccine, raising questions about the persistence and quality of vaccine-induced immunity.
This study evaluates circulating and mucosal immune responses to measles, mumps and rubella in previously vaccinated adults, including responses following an additional MMR dose in a subset of participants. The objective is to characterize immune responses after prior vaccination and to assess whether a booster dose provides measurable immunological benefit in this population.
Further information please find: here

Project lead: Kyra Zens, Phung Lang
Funding: Merck Sharp & Dohme (Investigator-Initiated)
 

Switzerland possesses substantial high-quality data on HPV vaccination, screening, and disease outcomes; however, these data remain fragmented, limiting the ability to assess progress toward national and WHO elimination targets.

This project develops a centralized national platform that compiles and harmonizes existing Swiss evidence on HPV vaccination, HPV-associated disease burden, screening, healthcare usage, and associated costs. The platform will support data-driven decision-making, enable evaluation of intervention strategies, and provide a foundation for coordinated efforts toward the elimination of HPV-associated diseases in Switzerland.

Project lead: Phung Lang, Kyra Zens
Funding: Merck Sharp & Dohme (Educational Grant)

In collaboration with the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the Health Departments in all 26 cantons, vaccination coverage of children and adolescents are determined within a 3-year cycle at the national and cantonal levels. Data are collected for vaccinations that are recommended in the Swiss Immunization Plan. Results from this survey aid the FOPH and the Cantons in setting and monitoring
their vaccination goals, such as the elimination of measles in Switzerland.
More information please find: here

Project lead: Phung Lang
Funding:  Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), Health Departments in 26 Cantons

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a severe, vaccine-preventable infection with increasing incidence in Switzerland, yet vaccination uptake remains suboptimal, particularly among children despite updated national recommendations.
This project conducts representative surveys of parents and pediatricians in canton Zurich to identify knowledge, perceptions, and factors influencing TBE vaccination decisions. The findings will inform targeted communication strategies and support the development of a national TBE vaccination campaign aimed at improving awareness and uptake.

Project lead: Kyra Zens, Phung Lang
Funding: Bavarian Nordic (Investigator Initiated)