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Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology

  1. Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology
  2. Our departments
  3. Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology

Mission Statement

The Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology as a part of the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology is an interdisciplinary facility of the Medical University of Vienna, which was founded from the Institute for Hygiene and the Department for Molecular Immunology.

Our Goal: The comprehensive prevention of diseases through

  • Application of hygiene measures and prevention of infections
  • The effectivity of disinfectants and disinfecting procedures, as well as their improvement
  • Understanding the molecular processes of a body’s natural prevention systems, namely the immune system

The institute aims to recombine the knowledge and techniques of all experts working in its various sub-groups (antigen recognition, medical-technical hygiene, molecular immunology, water hygiene and water microbiology and ticks and tick-associated microorganisms) to develop and introduce hygiene measures immunomodulating agents to create a base for novel substances for the treatment of infections, as well as immunological diseases like autoimmune diseases and allergies.

The Cluster of Excellence

As part of the excellence initative "excellent=austria" cooperative projects are being conducted at eleven locations. This initiative is funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, which provides a total amount of 135 Million Euros to foster cutting-edge research regarding future-oriented topics. This amount of funds has never been invested into projects of basic research before in Austria.

For each cluster teams of more than 100 scientists cooperate for at least five years across institutions.

For the topic "Microbiomes Drive Planetary Health", 30 scientists of different fields and seven facilities work together to uncover the significance of microbial communities for the Earth's health and its resident species, while populating all ecosystems and larger organisms.

 

Furthermore, the institute houses the accredited testing and inspection center API Hygiene Vienna, which is run by the research groups Water Hygiene and Medical-technical Hygiene and adds to our range of services.

Further info about our certifications
New publication in “International Journal of Molecular Sciences”

Optimising Transformation Efficiency in Borrelia: Unravelling the Role of the Restriction-Modification System of Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii

The paper discusses our research on how Borrelia species defend themselves against viruses (bacteriophages). Borreliae and other microorganisms identify their own DNA by marking it with a methylation pattern. When a bacteriophage attempts to infect the Borrelia by injecting its DNA, the Borrelia defence mechanism is triggered because the viral DNA lacks the pattern.
Borrelia burgdorferi GFP
Understanding this mechanism has allowed us to modify early passage infectious Borrelia strains, which will aid in further studies on the interactions between ticks, borrelia, and vertebrate hosts.
Additionally, our study may lead to alternative treatment methods for curing Borreliosis. Currently, antibiotics are highly effective, but with the increase in antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, it is crucial to explore other treatment options to ensure the long-term effectiveness of antibiotics.
You can access the paper here
New publication in “Emerging Microbes & Infections”

SARS-CoV-2 hijacks host CD55, CD59 and Factor H to impair antibody-dependent complement-mediated lysis

Researchers from the Molecular Immunology Unit at the Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology, in collaboration with the Medical University of Innsbruck, discovered that SARS-CoV-2 makes use of the three important complement regulatory proteins CD55, CD59 and Factor H to inhibit the complement lysis of SARS-CoV-2. Since the complement system plays a key role in early antiviral immunity, hijacking of these regulators significantly impairs viral clearance, which may affect the course of both acute COVID-19 infections and post-COVID-19 sequelae. The study was recently published in the journal “Emerging Microbes & Infections”
You can access the paper here
Top Citizen Science
Covering many topics important in our increasingly complex world, our institute’s focus is to enable pupils to gain deep insights regarding methods used in modern science. During a period of 2 years, they will participate in doing science and get a glimpse what it could be like to be the researchers of tomorrow.
Science Ambassador of March: Michiel Wijnveld
Michiel Wijnveld of the Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunolgy has been chosen by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research as Science Ambassador of March.
“Emerging Fields” Austria": Research grant of 5.7 million euros approved by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) for therapy of osteosarcomaosarkoms
Austria is further expanding its leading position in basic research. "Devising Advanced TCR-T Cells to Eradicate OsteoSarcoma", or "DART2OS" in short, pathes the way for ground-breaking research to fight osteosarcomas through targeted therapies.
Two students of the Molecular Immunology Unit completed their theses
On February 19, 2024, Dr. med. univ. Alexandra van der Staal (Molecular Immunology Unit) passed with distinction her Doctoral viva for obtaining the academic degree “Doctor of Philosophy”.

Title of the Doctoral thesis: “Immune Cell Profiles and Patient Clustering in Complex Cases of Interstitial Lung Disease”

Supervisor:
Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Hannes Stockinger
Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology
Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology
Medical University of Vienna
Kinderspitalgasse 15, 1090 Vienna, Austria.

Similarly, on March 11, 2024, Ms Karolin Armbrecht successfully defended (with the grade “sehr gut”) her MD diploma thesis with the title: “Effects of a high salt microenvironment onto macrophage differentiation, activation and function”.

Supervisors:
Mag. Anna Repic, PhD, and Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Hannes Stockinger


Our heartfelt congratulations to both!