The Vienna Transplant and Complement Lab

The Vienna Transplant and Complement Lab (VIETAC Lab) is part of the Division of Nephrology and Dialysis at the Department of Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna (MUV). There is a tight link to the Vienna kidney transplant program (150-200 kidney transplants per year). Special programs include protocols for HLA and ABO incompatible patients and kidney paired donation. The VIETAC Lab is also closely collaborating with the local liver, pancreas, heart and lung transplant program, the Clinical Institute of Pathology, the HLA laboratory, the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and the Department of Virology.

A major scientific focus of the lab is the role of antibodies and the complement system in solid organ transplantation. Milestones of former research include the establishment of strategies for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of antibody-mediated rejection. Our research contributed to the establishment of C4d deposition as an in vivo and in vitro diagnostic marker and the development of apheresis-based clinical protocols for the prevention and treatment of antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR). A further scientific focus is ABO incompatible transplantation. The lab is involved in clinical testing for novel drugs (including first in man and first in disease) for the treatment and prevention of ABMR.

In the VIETAC lab post docs and PhD students with both life science and medical background including transplant medicine and surgery closely collaborate to enable translation from bench to bedside.