Heimo Breiteneder, long-standing Head of the Division of Medical Biotechnology at the Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, has been nominated by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) as EAACI Fellow (FEAACI) in recognition of his professional outstanding achievements and continuous efforts to advance the field of allergy, clinical immunology, and asthma.
Breiteneder was presented with the award during an academic ceremony at the annual congress of the EAACI in Glasgow/UK on 13 June 2025 for his achievements in research and contributions to the development of the field.
About Heimo Breiteneder
Heimo Breiteneder studied botany and biochemistry at the University of Vienna, Austria, and graduated to Ph.D. in 1985. He joined the Department of General and Experimental Pathology of the Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna. There he cloned the first plant allergen, Bet v 1, from birch pollen, which was published in 1989.
During his career, Heimo Breiteneder and his team contributed significantly to the cloning of pollen-associated plant food allergens, latex allergens and plant food allergens in general. In the area of animal food allergens, he and his team have focused on the fish allergen parvalbumin and shown that bony fish-allergic individuals can tolerate cartilaginous fish. He is one of the pioneers of molecular allergology and the production of recombinant allergens, including plant-based expression systems. He is also one of the main proponents of classifying allergens according to protein families.
Heimo Breiteneder became the head of the Division of Medical Biotechnology at the Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research of the Medical University of Vienna in 2006 and, in 2011, full University Professor of Medical Biotechnology of the Medical University of Vienna.
Breiteneder is author or co-author of more than 200 original papers in scientific journals, a total number of citations of 18,000. He is an internationally recognized lecturer in allergen systematics and the molecular biology of allergens. He is co-editor of the specialist journal Allergy, the top-ranking international allergy research journal. In addition to this, he also served as Chair of the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Sub-Committee from 2006 until 2014.