Children’s health is at the centre of two new research programmes funded by Fondation Botnar, a charitable foundation based in Switzerland. Professor Andres Floto (Medicine) is leading a study aimed at developing much-needed new antibiotics through a multidisciplinary collaboration with Sir Tom Blundell (Biochemistry), Professor Chris Abell (Chemistry), and Professor Julian Parkhill at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. In particular, the research will focus on tackling drug-resistant infections in cystic fibrosis – according to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, more than 4,000 children aged under 16 years live with the condition in the UK.

Professor Sadaf Farooqi (Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Sciences) is launching a new study focused on obesity in children. The OSTRICH Study will seek to identify the genetic and physiological factors that increase the risk of obesity-related complications in some (but not all) young people. The project will fund intervention studies in subgroups of children and adolescents with severe obesity and will support the training of Clinical Fellows in translational research.

Fondation Botnar is a Swiss charitable foundation established in 2003 to continue the philanthropic work of the Botnar family. The foundation’s focus is to improve the health, nutrition and education of children globally.

Professor Joachim Seelig, member of the Board of Fondation Botnar, said: “We are pleased to be able to support diverse projects from world-leading researchers at the University of Cambridge. These projects address very different, but significant, challenges facing the health and wellbeing of young people around the world.”