About Us

VIVIT – Medical Research in Vorarlberg

The Vorarlberg Institute for Vascular Investigation and Treatment, in short VIVIT, is a research institute primarily focused on the investigation and treatment of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases such as diabetes and atherosclerosis. In addition, the VIVIT engages in research into renal conditions as well as cancer.

Founded in 1997 by University Professor Dr. Dr. hc. Heinz Drexel, the VIVIT is a non-for-profit organisation based in Austria’s westernmost state, Vorarlberg, and dedicates itself to high-level medical research with a global impact. At the time of its inauguration, Vorarlberg’s former governor of state, Dr. Martin Purtscher, served as president of the VIVIT. His longstanding commitment and support was instrumental for the VIVIT’s establishment and for accomplishing its ambition to become an internationally recognized research institute. In 2014, Dr. Purtscher was succeeded by Egon Humpeler, doctor and honorary professor of internal medicine.

The VIVIT is headquartered at the State Hospital in Feldkirch and its Molecular Biology Laboratory is situated in the town of Dornbirn. The VIVIT’s team comprises around 20 life sciences specialists with a background in medicine and natural sciences who joined forces to tackle questions in diabetology, cardiology, nephrology, oncology, genetics and molecular biology, in an interdisciplinary fashion. The team authored more than 450 publications in scientific journals and covered a broad range of topics from basic research all the way to clinical applications. Furthermore, the VIVIT has a strong presence at national and international scientific conferences, a fact which has materialised in over 1,200 abstracts.

In a local context, research at the VIVIT is centred around patients in Vorarlberg and in the areas surrounding Lake of Constance and river Rhine. Despite its international orientation, the VIVIT maintains strong ties with medical professionals and health care institutions in the region. Right from the start, the VIVIT worked in close collaboration with the State Hospital in Feldkirch, its operating company, the Krankenhausbetreibsgesellschaft, and the Medical Central Laboratories in Feldkirch. The latter commissions the VIVIT to conduct genetic analyses of patient samples. Hence, with respect to personalised medicine and therapy, Vorarlberg’s patients benefit from the VIVIT’s research activities in more than one respect.