Pediatric Experimental and Translational Imaging

This research project addresses a central problem of modern medicine: new drugs are often developed faster than the corresponding diagnostic procedures. This means that effective therapies may be available, but they cannot be used optimally because suitable tests to identify the right patients in time are still lacking. As a result, valuable time is lost, and the opportunities to treat diseases early and in a targeted way are often not fully utilized.

This issue is particularly relevant in pediatric and adolescent medicine. Children are not “small adults” — their diseases often progress differently, and their treatment requires age-specific approaches. If new drugs can be paired more quickly with suitable diagnostics in this field, young patients can not only be treated more effectively but also protected from long-term consequences. Diseases that occur during childhood and adolescence often have effects that extend far beyond this phase of life and can influence health for decades.

The project therefore relies on innovative methods from medicine and biotechnology to bring diagnostics and drug development closer together. The goal is to develop new diagnostic procedures that can provide early, reliable, and individualized indications of which therapy is best suited for a child or adolescent. In this way, advances in pharmaceutical research can be translated more quickly and more precisely into clinical practice.

In the long term, this approach promises major benefits: children and adolescents receive the best possible treatment at an early stage, side effects can be reduced, and families are relieved. In addition, the project helps to use resources in the healthcare system more efficiently and ultimately contributes to sustainably improving the care of young patients.