On October 1st and 2nd, 2026, the Medical University of Vienna
(MedUni Vienna) and its University Hospital (AKH Wien) will
open two new research buildings at the MedUni Campus AKH:
the Center for Translational Medicine (CTM) and the
Eric Kandel Institute – Center for Precision Medicine (CPM).
By providing state-of-the-art facilities for translational and
personalized medicine, the new buildings will enable diagnoses,
therapies and prevention to be tailored even more precisely
to individual patients.
By providing state-of-the-art facilities for translational and personalized medicine, the new buildings will enable diagnoses, therapies and prevention to be tailored even more precisely to individual patients.
Opening highlights
To mark the launch on October 1st and 2nd , the Center for Translational Medicine will open its doors with various events for relatives, partners and friends of MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna (AKH).
About the Center for Translational Medicine and the Eric Kandel Institute – Center for Precision Medicine
The Center for Translational Medicine bridges basic science and clinical practice, creating space for joint research and clinical trial projects. The center brings together the entire development chain – from experimental laboratory research to clinical Phase I/II research – under one roof. This accelerates the transfer of scientific findings into concrete improvements for patients. The event area, featuring the Eugene Braunwald Auditorium, also provides space for scientific networking, teaching and continuing professional development for up to 750 people.
At the Eric Kandel Institute – Center for Precision Medicine, scientists find optimal infrastructure to develop new methods of prevention, diagnosis and treatment that are individually tailored to each patient.
About the namesakes
It is a great honour for the Medical University of Vienna to name the Center for Precision Medicine and the University Auditorium as part of the Center for Translational Medicine, after two icons of Medicine.
Eric Kandel
Eric Kandel, born in Vienna in 1929, was awarded the
Nobel Prize in physiology or Medicine in 2000 for the
discovery of chemical and structural changes in the brains
of all learning organisms, from snails to humans. He was
awarded an honorary doctorate by the Medical University
of Vienna in 2018.
With the findings from his scientific work, he provided deep insights into the workings of human memory and a molecular understanding of mental processes and psychiatric disorders.
Kandel was forced to emigrate to the USA with his family in 1939 following the ‘Anschluss’ of Austria to Nazi Germany and was granted American citizenship in 1945. In 2009, Kandel was made an honorary citizen of the City of Vienna. In 2012, he received the Grand Silver Medal of Honour with Star for services to the Republic, and in 2018 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Medical University of Vienna. Kandel lives in New York, USA.
Eugene Braunwald
Eugene Braunwald, born in Vienna in 1929, is regarded
as the “father” of modern Cardiology. His keynote speech
marking MedUni Vienna‘s 10th anniversary (“The Physician
Scientist – Protection of an Endangered Species”) was
the inspiration for the establishment of the Center for
Translational Medicine.
His family emigrated to the USA in 1939 to escape the Nazi regime. Braunwald was most recently Distinguished Hersey Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Founding Chairman of the TIMI Study Group at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Prior to this, he served, among other roles, as the first head of the Cardiology Branch and Clinical Director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, as well as Founding Chair of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Through his work on heart attacks and as editor of seminal standard works in internal medicine and cardiology, he has had a lasting international impact on the field. At the 10th-anniversary celebrations of the Medical University of Vienna in 2014, he delivered the keynote address ‘The Physician Scientist: Protection of an Endangered Species’.
In the new Center for Translational Medicine, MedUni Vienna’s largest lecture theatre is named after him: the Eugene Braunwald Auditorium.
Braunwald passed away on 22 April 2026 at the age of 96 in Massachusetts, USA.
Literature tip
Müller, M.: The architectural history of the “new buildings” of the Medical University of Vienna
Published: September 11, 2025
Wiener klinische Wochenschrift (2025)
Image: 1914: new departments of the “old” Vienna General Hospital (AKH) Vienna, view from main entrance 9., Lazarettgasse 14. Postcard, 1913–1914 (date of production), Paul Ledermann (publisher)
Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 58891/885, CC0, open content
