With the Danube Allergy Research Cluster (Danube ARC), a centre of excellence for allergy research is being created in Lower Austria at the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences. It is dedicated to researching new methods of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of allergic diseases.
In addition to the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences (KL) as the headquarters and hub of the Danube ARC, the Medical University of Vienna, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (IFA Tulln), the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, the Austrian Institute of Technology (Tulln site) and the university hospitals of St. Pölten and Krems are involved in the Danube ARC.
The province of Lower Austria is supporting the project for the next three years with a total of around 7.6 million euros, providing a new impulse in the strategic expansion of the province's research services in the field of health.
16 research projects in Lower Austria and Vienna
In the Danube Allergy Research Cluster, internationally leading scientists and clinicians from Lower Austria and Vienna work together and conduct research in 16 different research projects on the topic of allergies. In addition, young scientists from all over the world are involved in this undertaking. The scientific director is the renowned immunologist Prof. Dr. Rudolf Valenta from the Medical University of Vienna.
Among other things, the projects are dedicated to
- the development of new methods to better prevent allergic diseases.
- the development of new vaccines, for example against grass pollen allergies, in order to be able to treat allergic diseases even better.
- the development of innovative allergy chips to enable a better and faster diagnosis of allergies.
PhD programme with 17 international participants
An international PhD programme with an allergy focus will also be part of the research programme. 17 PhD students from 11 countries are already part of the PhD programme "Molecular, Cellular and Clinical Allergology".
Certificate Course Allergology and Clinical Immunology
Starting in the winter semester 2021/22, Karl Landsteiner University will also offer a certificate course "Allergology and Clinical Immunology" online and on-site in Krems. This further education course, which is unique in Europe, enables laboratory staff, physicians, pharmaceutical and hospital officers, MTAs, etc. to acquire specialised knowledge and immunological basics as well as clinical skills in the field of allergology and clinical immunology, both theoretically and practically.