I grew up in Switzerland and attended the medical school of the University of Basel between 2005 and 2011. During that time, I had the first opportunity to do research, being part of a team conducting a randomized controlled trial with newborns. This led to my medical dissertation about the use of paracetamol and pain memory in newborns. Being fascinated by research as well as by neonatology, I decided to do a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Basel. I was studying vital sign behavior of very preterm infants during their first days of life, using advanced mathematical analysis in a study led by my supervisor and mentor Prof. Schulzke in collaboration with Prof. Frey. Both of them greatly supported me with guidance and providing enough space to develop my own research ideas. In this interdisciplinary group, I had the chance to work with many inspiring people from different disciplines, such as Prof. Latzin and Dr. Yammine from the Pediatric Respiratory Department, University Hospital Bern, Switzerland, as well as Prof. Suki from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Boston.

I was lucky to profit from an excellent clinical education in pediatrics and neonatology at the University Children’s Hospital Basel and the Cantonal Hospital Graubuenden, Switzerland.

It was towards the end of my PhD studies when I initiated the NEO (Neonatal Esophageal Observation) Tube project, in collaboration with Dr. Niederhauser and Dr. Haeberlin. With the project presented in this article, we aim to ameliorate monitoring techniques and the care of newborn infants. My goal is to contribute to applicable research output that improves the daily clinical care of infants. I want to achieve this through a better understanding of the infants’ physiology and advanced technologies that support both the health care workers and the patients with their families.

Since October 2020, I have been working in Stockholm, Sweden. Being part of the interdisciplinary research group of Prof. Herlenius at the Karolinska Institutet enables me to study the usefulness of machine learning algorithms to support clinical decisions. The environment at the outstanding Karolinska University Hospital with its high-standard neonatology and family-integrated care is the perfect place to further develop my clinical skills in neonatology.

My advice to other young scientists: stay curious, dare to question the way things are done, and be creative in finding new ways of looking at them. Don’t do research to impress others, but to discover new territories.