Evidence-based medicine (EbM) aims to ensure that medical decisions are based on the best scientific evidence. At the same time, medical experience and patients' wishes should be taken into account. The research team would like to use its experience in EbM to help ensure that scientific results of the highest possible quality are achieved in the various projects. Evidence-based medicine is important because it provides doctors and patients with good information to help them make good decisions. This enables them to avoid unnecessary treatments.
Head of the research unit: Klaus Jeitler
The research unit deals with organs that are intended for transplantation. These organs are exposed to various challenges that can have a negative impact on the survival of both the organs themselves and the patients. Our research work aims to make organs "fit" for transplantation in order to provide as many patients on transplant waiting lists as possible with a suitable organ.
Head of the research unit: Philipp Stiegler
The research focus of the RU is on the development and improvement of existing surgical and conservative therapies in the field of skin regeneration. The RU mainly deals with topics related to wound healing and wound healing disorders. A special focus will be placed on the use of fat stem cells, but biomaterials will also be examined with regard to their biocompatibility and cell-matrix interactions. When developing new methods, particular attention should be paid to the practical feasibility in the clinic; both in terms of what is technically feasible and what is ethically justifiable.
Head of the research unit: Petra Kotzbeck
Our team conducts research in the areas of "patient safety" and "sustainable healthcare" and supports their implementation in everyday medical practice. In close cooperation with Graz University Hospital, we work together on relevant topics in the field of healthcare. The aim is to deal with the development of aspects relevant to patient safety, the implementation of methods, tools or devices and their sustainability and thus make a significant contribution to patient safety and sustainable healthcare.
Head of the research unit: Lars Peter Kamolz
Vision und mission statement: Cost-effective high-end medicine and research, evaluated using patient-specific endpoints and objective scientific parameters in the field of prevention, conservative and surgical therapy of the musculoskeletal system with a special focus on total joint replacement.
Head of the research unit: Patrick Sadoghi
The research group "Responsible Aesthetics" at the Medical University of Graz is dedicated to promoting evidence-based practices, sustainable procedures, and safety standards in aesthetic medicine and plastic surgery. In close collaboration with regional, national, and international partners, we conduct research to inform, enhance, and advocate for responsible practices in aesthetic medicine. Our aim is to become a leading authority within this thematic domain and make a substantial contribution to societal engagement with it.
Head of the research unit: Sebastian Nischwitz
The treatment of seriously ill and seriously injured people is a complex interplay of many processes. Countless factors influence the outcome of this treatment. In addition, this treatment takes place in a field of tension between medical, ethical, social and economic requirements. It is therefore difficult to represent and compare medical quality using measurable parameters. As researchers into the quality of outcomes, we therefore develop and use methods to objectively present and critically examine this quality.
Head of the research unit: Paul Zajic
Genetic epidemiology plays a central role in precision medicine. She investigates the connection between variability in the genome and diseases and identifies high impact targets for therapy and prevention. Our focus is on aging, which explains 90% of mortality in the Western world. Aging is a plastic and variable process in humans. If we can slow down the aging process, the result would be a long and healthy life.
Head of the research unit: Helena Schmidt
International and interprofessional research and education of future generations of health care professionals related to ageing and integrated care in geriatric medicine builds our success.
Our academic work is based upon delivery of person-centered and integrated care for older and multimorbide citizens, answering needs with sustainable solutions and concepts.
Head of the research unit: Regina Roller-Wirnsberger
The Research Unit aims to facilitate the translational adoption of digital technologies in surgery and to expand its reach for clinical application. Proactive participation for building tomorrow’s healthcare with digital technologies to promote surgical care, research and development.
Head of the research unit: David Benjamin Lumenta
While most investigations of the voice can only record it indirectly (voice recording, endoscopy), we deal with physiology and pathophysiology on a cellular and molecular level. The phonomimetic bioreactor we have developed allows us to simulate the vibration of the vocal folds in a test tube and thus to investigate the effects of vibration on the different cell types. We are particularly interested in questions at the intersection of biology and mechanics.
Head of the research unit: Markus Gugatschka
The Musculoskeletal Research Unit for Biomaterials aims to develop new, healthier materials - especially for children - that functionally support the bone healing during bone fracture treatment in orthopedics and traumatology and then be absorbed. With this overall goal, the patient's demand for the most effective treatment is achievable and feasible. In order to work translationally, a strong network between clinical and basic research is required (from bench-to-bedside and vice versa).
Head of the research unit: Nicole Sommer
We span an arc from basic research in stem cell biology to translational research in the field of transfusion medicine. The aim is to gain new insights into the molecular regulation of human haematopoiesis. The focus is on the production of red blood cells (erythrocytes) from human stem cells using biotechnological processes. Both CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells from umbilical cord blood and so-called induced pluripotent stem cells (reprogrammed skin or blood cells) serve as starting material.
Head of the research unit: Isabel Dorn
The research unit is concerned with the identification and characterisation of new blood group variants and the scientific processing of discrepant blood group findings. Classical family studies and special immunohaematological diagnostics, on a serological and molecular level, or by means of in vitro experiments are used.
Head of the research unit: Thomas Wagner
The molecular mechanisms of action of light therapy for skin diseases are investigated using biomedical models and cell culture in conjunction with clinical studies - from bedside to bench and back. By understanding the underlying mechanisms we aim to create the basis for new and targeted therapies against skin diseases with greater effectiveness and sustainability - and an improved safety profile. Our research is inspired by clinical hypotheses, which are the core of translational studies.
Head of the research unit: Peter Wolf
Obstetric trauma is thought to be the most common cause of anal incontinence with the external anal sphincter being disrupted by a third degree tear after vaginal delivery.
Anal incontinence often devastets patients' lives and treatment options are limited. Conservative measures can be ineffective. Surgical interventions can be associated with complications and limited success. We have been following women who have severe obstetric perineal trauma since 1993 and we were looking for an anal incontinence treatment that was less invasive and more successful.
Head of the research unit: Andrea Frudinger
Research focuses on bioaerosols, water hygiene and microecology. High concentrations of microorganisms, dust and chemical substances can lead to health problems in the indoor air (waste management, livestock housing) and in the outdoor air. Other topics are the detection of biological and chemical components as well as of human-associated antibiotic resistance in ground and surface waters and their potential impact on the environment.
Head of the research unit: Doris Haas
Our research activities focus on inflammatory processes that contribute to the development of chronic lung diseases such as bronchial asthma and COPD. In the course of the diseases, inflammatory mediators are released, which recruit and activate immune cells. However, the involved signaling pathways are not yet fully understood. In order to define new approaches for diagnosis and therapy we investigate these activation processes by linking findings from isolated cell systems, disease models and patient samples.
Head of the research unit: Eva Böhm
This research unit is working to understand the cellular mechanisms of pulmonary vascular remodeling, in particular, the heterogeneity of smooth muscle cells. Using novel technologies such as single cell transcriptomics and three-dimensional imaging, its goal is to answer the role of smooth muscle cell plasticity in pulmonary diseases. It is also identifying crucial regulators of SMC fate as potential novel anti-remodeling therapies.
Head of the research unit: Slaven Crnkovic
The membrane protein family of channels fulfils salient roles as versatile cellular sensors and effectors. Their pivotal role in the lung is highlighted by the discovery of several mutations leading to pulmonary diseases such as cystic fibrosis or pulmonary arterial hypertension. The Research Unit strives to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of pulmonary pathophysiologies and investigate their economic consequences for public health in an aging society.
Head of the research unit: Andrea Olschewski
Lung cancer is one of the most frequent cancer types worldwide. The focus of the research unit is the investigation of different aspects of chemoresistance in lung carcinoma cells. Molecular mechanism of chemoresistance by using modern methods of molecular and cellular biology are investigated. Another focus of interest in this research unit are microRNA molecules. MicroRNAs regulate gene expression and thereby influence signaling pathways and mechanisms of resistance in tumor cells. The goal is to improve the treatment modality for lung carcinoma patients.
Head of the research unit: Andelko Hrzenjak
Chronic lung diseases (CLD) such as pulmonary fibrosis are often associated with vascular changes. The constant interaction between structural cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins is integrative part of vessel and parenchymal cellular homeostasis, however, when disturbed can lead to cellular expansion and disease worsening. This RU aims to delineate the mechanism leading to disbalance in cellular homeostasis and thus CLD development.
Head of the research unit: Grazyna Kwapiszewska-Marsh
This research unit with focus on clinical scientific hypothesis in chronic lung diseases works on a number of actual questions based on new insights from pathologic mechanisms and pharmacology, applying such hypothesis to specific patient cohorts. We investigate our cohorts by means of deep phenotyping, also using genetic methods. Together with new digital tools to automatically visualize and quantify the structural changes in the lung in the CT imaging, this research unit generates new prognostic markers and therapeutic approaches.
Head of the research unit: Horst Olschewski
Chronic lung diseases (CLD) are leading cause of mortality and their prevalence is expected to substantially increase in the coming decades. CLD are characterized by a remodeling of the lung tissue which ultimately leads to cardio-respiratory problems. Many different mesenchymal cells contribute to this remodeling and each of them contribute differently to disease development. We aim to investigate how systemic/local metabolic and hormonal changes influence mesenchymal cells behavior and function.
Head of the research unit: Valentina Biasin
In solid cancers like lung cancer, cells face a poor nutrient supply due to an insufficient newly formed vasculature. The research unit “Lung Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment”, led by Katharina Leithner, aims to study the metabolic rewiring of cancer cells and tumor immune cells under these harsh conditions. The researchers identified a novel metabolic pathway in lung cancer cells, that allows cancer cells to perform metabolism independent of glucose and aim to further shed light on this pathway.
Head of the research unit: Katharina Leithner
Our research unit focuses on clinical and translational research in the field of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Our main goals include the early diagnosis of PH with innovative tools, and the optimized management of patients with early PH and with PH associated with chronic lung diseases. Pulmonary exercise hemodynamics represents a special focus among our research projects. We initiated and developed several international collaborations including the PEX-NET Clinical Research Collaboration supported by the European Respiratory Society and international COPD and ILD collaborations.
Head of the research unit: Gabor Kovacs
