For the medicine of tomorrow - Interview with Marisa Schnurrenberger, responsible for partnerships at the USZ Foundation - the foundation of the University Hospital Zurich.
What career path led you to the USZ Foundation?
I have been working for non-profit organizations for more than 20 years - previously mostly for large, long-established organizations. When I saw the job advertisement for the USZ Foundation, I immediately knew that I wanted to apply. On the one hand, I am very interested in the subject of medicine. I personally experienced how life-saving innovative therapies can be when I had cancer in my family. At the same time, what attracted me to the USZ Foundation, which was established in 2017, was the opportunity to be involved in setting up a foundation for the first time.
Can you briefly introduce the USZ Foundation?
We are the foundation of the University Hospital Zurich. Our mission is to promote medical innovations at the hospital that directly improve patients' quality of life. Together with our funding partners, we support projects that result in new treatments for a wide range of diseases.
Why is philanthropy needed for this?
It is needed because the hospital's resources are limited. However, many good ideas from outstanding researchers are just waiting to be implemented. A university hospital is the place where the medicine of tomorrow is developed. Thanks to our patrons, we can give innovative employees the freedom to turn their best ideas into reality.
What exactly is your role at the Foundation?
Our funding partners include foundations, companies and individuals. Among other things, I am responsible for contact with foundations. A considerable number of the 13,000 or so foundations in Switzerland are active in the fields of medicine, science and health. I establish links with them, maintain these relationships and bring our benefactors together with the projects at the USZ that suit them best. Fundraiso.ch is of course very useful to me in finding the right foundations.
How successful are you in finding funding partners for the projects?
Pleasingly well. We have already been able to find sponsors for more than 100 projects at the USZ. The USZ is an exciting partner for our funding partners because it has first-class researchers across the entire spectrum of medical topics. It is also attractive for patrons to gain an insight into a university hospital and to experience at first hand how the medicine of the future is being developed through personal encounters with researchers. It is very important in our work that we present complex scientific topics in a generally understandable way. This is greatly appreciated.
Are you also looking for funding partners outside of Switzerland?
We have started to make contact with some international foundations. After all, the researchers at the USZ are naturally networked worldwide. But Switzerland is our "home market". There are still many foundations here that we would like to establish contact with. In this respect, our priority is to establish long-term relationships with patrons in Switzerland.
You mentioned that you were interested in helping to set up a new foundation. To what extent is it special to work for a "young" foundation?
We can reinvent ourselves, so to speak, and define how we work from the ground up. I can contribute my knowledge, help shape things and at the same time gain unique new experiences. As a small foundation, we are agile, have flat hierarchies and can react quickly. In 2020, for example, we soon created a coronavirus solidarity fund for the USZ to support employees and research into COVID-19. The USZ Foundation is now five years old and it is a great pleasure to see how the foundation is thriving and making an impact.
What has been your best experience at the USZ Foundation so far?
I was particularly pleased that we were able to win over more than 20 foundations to jointly make a major study possible. The aim is to improve the treatment of brain metastases. Without philanthropic support, the study would not have been possible on this scale and with this international network. It's a great feeling: we make innovations possible that can significantly improve people's lives. And we enable innovative researchers to realize their best ideas.
Do you have any tips for other people setting up a new foundation?
We are lucky to work for one of the world's most renowned hospitals. The USZ is a brand. But my experience is that philanthropy can also succeed without a well-known brand. It is important to formulate a clear "case for support" and to define exactly why philanthropy is needed. A foundation is successful if it can clearly demonstrate its added value for society. And perhaps the most important thing is to be passionate about your job and about helping people. There is every reason to do so. We are in a privileged situation in Switzerland - philanthropy is highly valued. In our work, we who work for a foundation always have to deal with people who also want to do good. In this respect, it's a dream job.