The Personalized Health and Society initiative (SantéPerSo) - led by the Leenaards Foundation, a philanthropic foundation based in Lausanne (Switzerland), and Médecine & Hygiène, a reference for health journalism in French-speaking Switzerland - is launching an international journalism competition with the theme of personalized health.

Personalized health, also known as precision medicine, results from the convergence of different phenomena: the acceleration of genome sequencing, the development of Big Data about health, and the improvement of analytical algorithms. These technological advances allow better understanding of the risks of developing a pathology, more precise diagnoses and tailor-made treatments. It is more than an evolution: personalized health represents a real paradigm shift. Such disruption raises many questions, but also raises hopes and fears about the future of medicine.

The SantéPerSo initiative gives citizens the opportunity to be part of this change through information and discussion projects. In accordance with this objective, SantéPerSo invites journalists to contribute to the development of better knowledge of personalized health.

Types of topics and support

Participants are invited to propose an original journalistic treatment of an aspect of personalized health, in French or English. The format must be multimedia, including at least two different media supports, for example text and video, or podcast and infographic.

The three winning entries will receive cash prizes to enable the winners to carry out their projects.

CHF 8000

First prize

CHF 4000

Second prize

CHF 3000

Third prize

Participant profiles and key conditions

Any journalist employed by an independent (non-institutional) media, or freelance working regularly for independent media, can propose a project.

The distribution of the subject by an independent media chosen by the author must be mentioned in the application. Each participant remains the owner of their work. The support of the SantéPerSo initiative must be mentioned and the content may be freely broadcast on Leenaards Foundation and Médecine & Hygiène's communication channels.

More information on 3 July 2019 at WCSJ2019

SantéPerSo will introduce the detailed terms and conditions of the competition during the World Conference of Science Journalists on Wednesday 3 July 2019, from 12:30 to 13:15 in Auditorium B of the SwissTech Convention Center (STCC) at EPFL. All information (submission process, evaluation criteria, deadline, composition of the selection panel, etc.) will also be available online from this date. All questions will be answered.

UNIL (Switzerland)

Philippe Moreillon

International call for projects in medical journalism