Department of Medicine I, Rudolfstiftung Hospital
Vienna, Austria
Juchgasse 25
A-1030 Vienna
Austria
Tel: +43-1-71165 - ext 2101, 2107, 2108, 2110
Fax: +43-1-71165-2109
Email: guntram.schernthaner@wienkav.at

The Department of Medicine I of the Rudolfstiftung Hospital (Head: Professor G. Schernthaner) is localized in the city of Vienna, not far away from the Castle of Belvedere, the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Hofburg.

The department has 8 senior physicians and 4 assistant medical doctors as well as 8 residents. The Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism is the main part of the Department of Medicine I, Rudolfstiftung Hospital Vienna. The second Division is a specialised Cancer center with out-patients and in-patients departments for patients with different types of cancer and haematological diseases.

The Diabetes unit has established a diabetes education team and special out-patients departments for all types of diabetes in 1988. Since that there was a continuous increase in research and clinical activities. In the Diabetes center more than 20.000 visits are organized per year including care of patients with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes as well as for patients with insulin-pump treatment. Many newly diagnosed diabetic patients are also coming to the Rudolfstiftung Diabetes Center in order to receive an optimal diabetes education program organized for about 2000 patients per year. The Diabetes education team is consisting of 4 young medical doctors, one diabetes education nurse and 2 specialized dieticians. More than 1000 diabetic patients per year are treated in the in-patients section (in total 100 beds), whereby insulin-deficient diabetics and patients with severe vascular complications (diabetic foot-syndrome, coronary stent-implantation, heart or renal failure) are referred from all parts of Austria. The Diabetes-Endocrinology Unit also focuses its work on out-patients departments for patients with various endocrine diseases and bone metabolic disorders.

The research activities are covering different topics in the fields of diabetes, endocrinology, obesity and oncology. The specific interest in the fields of immunology and immunogenetics of immune-mediated diabetes has started already in 1974. More details about the activities can be taken from the pubmed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi under “schernthaner g”. The diabetes center Rudolfstiftung Hospital has participated in many international studies including the Canadian-European-Cyclosporin-Study, the IDNT-trial, the STOP-NIDDM-Study, the IRMA-2-Trial, the DIRECT-study, the ASPEN-Trial, the PROACTIVE-Study, the GUIDE-Study and the Quartet-Studies. The LADA research group in Vienna is headed by Professor Guntram Schernthaner. Dr.Eva Schischka is the main Clinical Research Assistant of the LADA team, other members are Dr. Judith Schnabler, Dr. Yvonne Ettmüller and Dr. Alexander Leisser (ladavienna@hotmail.com).