The VIVIT was founded in 1997 by University Professor Heinz Drexel, with critical  support of leading local physicians and politicians, as a non-governmental organization dedicated to medical research in Austria’s westernmost state, Vorarlberg.

The VIVIT is based at the Academic Teaching Hospital Feldkirch (picture) and closely collaborates with it. As early as 1999, the initiative began to recruit patients undergoing coronary angiography due to clinical indications and to observe them prospectively, solely for academic purposes. The recruitment and follow-up of cardiovascular risk patients, including additional coronary angiography patients, patients with peripheral arterial disease, or patients with heart failure, continued in the following years and remains ongoing to this day. In addition, patients with end-stage kidney disease, as well as those with breast or colorectal cancer, have been included in prospective studies.

In 2004, the operation of VIVIT’s own molecular biology laboratory was established in the city of Dornbirn. In 2007, this laboratory was significantly expanded in terms of infrastructure and personnel through funding from the European Regional Development Fund, subsidies from the state of Vorarlberg, and internal resources.

Through these long-standing efforts, the VIVIT boasts a broad research spectrum, ranging from basic research with cell cultures to practical, applied research in clinical settings leading to the publication of hundreds of peer-reviewed papers to date.