The Children's Cancer Research Institute (CCRI) conducts specialized research into the causes and improved treatment of malignant childhood diseases. The director of St. Anna Children´s Hospital, Prof. Gadner, recognised the necessity of this research to improve the situation of young patients treated for cancer at the hospital in the 1980s. The patients´parents shared the vision of Prof. Gadner and consequently founded an association in 1986, which is now called "St. Anna Kinderkrebsforschung" and acts as the supporting organisation for the CCRI.
If you are interested in the work and activities of the association or would like to make a donation to support us, please refer to this link or contact Mag. Andrea Prantl.
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| Until 2009 the CCRI was housed on the top floor of the historical building of the St. Anna Children´s Hospital |
The CCRI became operational in 1988, after the association had raised more than 2.3 Mio € in donations for the conversion of the then empty loft in the historic building of the St. Anna Children’s Hospital. 20 years later, the CCRI has become an internationally renowned research institute. What started with a few motivated people has become a multidisciplinary team of more than 70 medical doctors, biologists, students and technicians. At a recent visit the mayor of Vienna, Dr. Michael Häupl, himself a biologist, recognised the achievements of the CCRI as follows: “This is an exceptional institution, which combines curing children at a remarkable success rate with basic research. Very few institutions like the CCRI exist in Europe.“
All members of the CCRI are proud of the positive influence their achievements have on the treatment of children suffering from cancer. Bone marrow transplants are the only therapeutic option for many, and our work has contributed significantly to making this a more successfull approach. In the meantime, molecular biology tools are employed to develop or adapt diagnostic approaches for a more targeted and individualized treatment. It has, for example, become possible to avoid potentially harmful treatment after surgery of patients suffering from neuroblastoma, if diagnostic methods indicate a reduced risk of dissemination or recurrence of the primary tumor.
| Front view of the new Children´s Cancer Research Institute |
In January 2009, all the laboratories which had until then been situated on the top floor of St. Anna Children´s Hospital, moved to the new building which had been erected in the immediate vicinity of the hospital. In order to continue the long-lasting cooperation between the two institutions, the new CCRI is connected with the St. Anna Children´s Hospital via a bridge which not only makes it possible for clinicians and researchers to work together and visit each other but also symbolizes the exchange of ideas and achievements. Now, working conditions for researchers and technicians have improved and at last there is more space for new equipment and technologies which are urgently needed for high quality cancer research.
In case you would like to learn more about the current research activities of the CCRI, you might like to have a look at our annual report (English and German):