Health, Medicine & Biology

„The WWTF makes an enormously important contribution to basic research in the field of health: the curated calls for proposals really get us ahead in Vienna!“

Dipl.-Ing.ⁱⁿ Dr.ⁱⁿ Michaela Fritz, Vice Rector of the Medical University of Vienna

Recent WWTF Projects

Exploring pancreas biology with AI/ML

Mapping metastases

Understanding the immune system based on Lymphoid structures

Portfolio

Understanding intestinal diseases

Inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome are chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract that affect 10-15% of Western society. Bacterial biofilms are crucial in the development of these diseases. Understanding such biofilms is the aim of Markus Muttenthaler’s project.

Building with stem cells

Stem cells have the remarkable ability to form many different types of cells and tissues in the body. The goal of Elly Tanaka’s project is to use stem cells to grow three-dimensional spinal cord tissue in a cell culture dish.

Fighting cancer in children

Ewing's sarcoma is a tumor that occurs primarily in adolescents and young adults, and for which treatment is not always available. "Liquid biopsy" (analysis of tumor DNA in blood) offers an alternative to conventional tumor biopsies and offers new possibilities for precision medicine. The goal of Eleni Tomazou and her team is to to tackle this pediatric cancer with the help of more precise diagnostic methods.

When do plants open their pores?

Stomata are tiny pores on the surface of plant leaves. Although they cover only a small part of the leaf surface, they control the exchange of gases with the atmosphere and thus play a central role in the global water and carbon cycle. With the help of the latest imaging methods, Guillaume Théroux-Rancourt's team is taking a closer look at stomata to answer long-standing questions in plant biology.