"The new collaboration agreement with Vienna General Hospital, signed at the beginning of the year, has paved the way for the future of medicine and research in Vienna and especially for the care we can offer our patients. This includes the infrastructural projects that are now underway," explains MedUni Vienna Rector Markus Müller. "This will enable us to establish the operative competence of Austria's leading medical institution at a top international level on a long-term basis."
Three research centers for the medicine of the future
"Each person has a different, completely individual genetic make-up and potentially a genetic predisposition that puts them at risk of developing certain diseases. And that is why they need personalized treatment or prevention strategies specifically tailored to suit them," explains Suzanne Rödler from MedUni Vienna's Department of Cardiac Surgery and fundraising manager for the Center for Precision Medicine that will require a total of 60 million euros to build. This amount is to be raised using the American model of sponsorship and this will mark the very first time that MedUni Vienna has run a project of this scale financed by fundraising.
"If 600,000 people each invest 100 euros in future research and future medicine, we will have raised the money we need," says Rödler, by way of a simple calculation, and adds: “This is something that affects all of us, so it is worth our while to invest in the medicine of the future."
In total, three research centers are to be built on the site of Vienna General Hospital. The buildings are part of a master plan to create a spatially contained Vienna General Hospital/MedUni Campus by 2025: The costs for the Center for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (a total of around 160 million euros) are being met by the Federal Government and the city of Vienna. It is hoped that the Technology Transfer Center will act as a base for firms. All of this is not only intended to act as a motor to drive research and medicine but also to elevate the education given to students to an even higher level and to enable future doctors to gather experience of clinical practice more quickly than before.
This is the largest investment programme ever undertaken by MedUni Vienna and it will mean that, by 2025, 800 employees will be helping to shape 21st century medicine on a site of around 60,000 m² in the immediate vicinity of Vienna General Hospital.
Key facts: Center for Precision Medicine
Scheduled start-date for construction: 2018
Cost: 60 million euros
Funding: external funding, private sponsors
Floor area: 11,100 m² (corresponding to a total area of almost 20,000 m²)
Employees: up to 405 doctors from clinical operations plus auxiliary staff
How do I donate?
MedUni Vienna welcomes all contributions towards the Center for Precision Medicine. Donations are tax-deductible. The fundraising team at MedUni Vienna is happy to answer any questions you might have. E-mail: fundraising@meduniwien.ac.at.
Tel.: +43 1 40160 11 504. Donations account: IBAN: AT46 2011 1404 1007 0714
BIC: GIBAATWWXXX