(Vienna, 05 August 2024) Werner Höllriegl took over as Head of the Core Facility Laboratory Animal Breeding and Husbandry at MedUni Vienna in August 2024. He is joins MedUni Vienna after decades in industrial pharmaceutical and biotech research. The Core Facility operates state-of-the-art laboratory animal breeding and husbandry in compliance with strict legal requirements, with a particular focus on replacing, reducing and refining animal experiments.
The Core Facility Laboratory Animal Breeding and Husbandry operates several animal facilities to provide the best possible support for research groups conducting in vivo experiments. Primarily genetically modified rodents are bred and housed at various hygiene levels - up to specific pathogen-free animals - and adhere to biological safety levels - up to safety level 3. The team consists of specially trained animal caretakers, veterinarians, technical and scientific staff who are dedicated to supporting users' in their scientific projects.
About the person
Werner Höllriegl studied veterinary medicine at the Vetmeduni Vienna. After graduating, he worked for several years as a university assistant at the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Intensive Care Medicine. Transitioning into industrial research, he assumed leadership roles in various laboratory animal facilities and in vivo pharmacology groups at Baxter, Novartis, Baxalta, Shire, Takeda and Evotec. In addition to preclinical research on therapeutic proteins, his main focus in recent years has been the establishment of in vivo models for testing gene therapy approaches. His particular interest lies in humanized mouse models, which offer enhanced predictive capabilities for clinical applications.