The Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology of the »Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology is an interdisciplinary enterprise of the »Medical University of Vienna having its history in the former Institute for Hygiene and the Department for Molecular Immunology. The Institute’s mission statement is a comprehensive understanding of the prevention of diseases starting from hygiene and infection prevention, the effectiveness of disinfectants, their methods and further development, via the diagnosis of pathogens, to the understanding of the molecular processes of the body's own natural prevention system, the immune system.
The aim of this interdisciplinary institute is to recombine the knowledge and techniques of the experts of the research groups for Antigen Recognition, Immunology of Infection and Microbiology, Medical-technical Hygiene, Molecular Immunology, Water Hygiene and Water Microbiology in order to develop and introduce hygiene measures as well as to identify novel immunomodulatory substances as basis for innovative therapeutic strategies to treat infections and immunological diseases including autoimmunity and allergy.
The Inter-University Cooperation Center for Water and Health (ICC Water & Health), in which Regina Sommer and Alexander Kirschner from our institute as well as the Vienna University of Technology and the Karl Landsteiner Private University are involved, is starting a comprehensive research cooperation with the "City of Vienna - Vienna Water".