This year’s Music for Medicine Benefit will begin at 7:00 pm. The Koll Trio (members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) will perform works by Beethoven and Kodaly, followed by dinner and a live auction to support the Salzburg Weill Cornell Seminars of the Open MedicaI Institute. Please see the program details.

This year’s topic of the Vienna City of Science Symposium was “Engineering the Brain: Modeling Disease and Drug Responses in Engineered Stem Cell Cultures“. Speakers Dr. Jürgen Knoblich, Martin Leeb, PhD and Dr. Michael Kaplitt, PhD, highlighted the most recent approaches in the field of stem cell biology and bio-engineering by taking a multi-disciplinary approach to modern developments in medicine. Dr. Augustine Choi, Dr. Wolfgang Aulitzky and Dr. Hugh Hemmings, PhD, from Weill Cornell Medical College hosted the symposium with support from the AAF and the Vienna Science and Technology Fund. Following the symposium, Pablo Legorreta, AAF trustee, Founder and CEO of Royalty Pharma, hosted a dinner at The Knickerbocker Club for scientists, physicians and investors.

The Vienna School of Medicine Gala took place in the Van Swieten Hall of the Medical University in Vienna. This year’s topic about Hearing featured lectures on both, the history and the current state of Otology in Austria. Dean Markus Müller welcomed the guests followed by Dr. Herwig Swoboda and Dr. Wolfgang Gstöttner. Dr. Ingeborg Hochmair, CEO of hearing implant producer MED-EL, spoke about the beginnings of cochlea implants followed by a short film of the OMI showing the progress made in curing deafness. Drs. Georg Stingl and Gerhard Sliutz received the Vienna OMI award honoring their support of the OMI and mentorship of OMI Observers and Max Kade students.

The funds raised will be used entirely for joint research programs of the Medical University Vienna, the Josephinum, and the Open Medical Institute.

Please find further photos and information in German here.

The Dialogue-Europe-Russia (DER), a think-tank to foster multilateral dialogue between Russia and Europe, took place at Schloss Arenberg in Salzburg on November 20, 2017.

Medical doctors, economists and politicians from Russia and EU-countries compared and analyzed existing public health systems, the training of doctors, addressed problems of accessibility and funding as well as the benefits of prevention. Examples of best practice and attempts for fundamental reforms stood in the center of the discussions.

The Max Kade Fellowship Program of the AAF provides one-month clerkships to forth-year medical students from our partner universities Weill Cornell Medical College, George Washington University and The University of Pennsylvania to spend a four-week rotation at the General Hospital Vienna. In exchange, selected Austrian medical students are given the opportunity to complete a four to eight-week rotation at our US partner universities thanks to the support of the Max Kade Foundation. In 2018, 21 US medical students will participate in a rotation at the General Hospital Vienna while 15 Austrian students can benefit from a clerkship at one of our partner universities.

Rhea Jabbour, a student at the Medical University Vienna, participated in the Max Kade Fellowship program and spent a two-month clerkship at George Washington University. Ms. Jabbour gave us an insight about her experiences and how it influenced her professional development:

“It was an invaluable and unique opportunity for me to get the chance to work in the US during two rotations and I am really thankful that I was able to fulfill my personal American dream. In fact, the high educational level and the advanced and modern techniques at George Washington University allowed me to gain expertise in my subjects of interest and to satisfy my unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Furthermore, I gained insight into the American healthcare system and discovered a different approach to medicine, which puts an emphasis on teaching and training. Completing a clinical clerkship in another continent and interacting with people from so many different cultures was a truly enriching and inspiring experience that broadened my horizons. On top of that, living in the capital city was an incredible adventure. This amazing journey is surely going to have a positive and lasting impact on my future professional life."

Rhea Jabbour, Max Kade Student at George Washington University at the Department of Endocrinology and Cardiology, from July 31 until September 24, 2017.

From October 8-14, 2017, Dr. Paul D. Kligfield (Weill Cornell Medicine) Dr. Gerald Maurer (Medical University of Vienna) and Dr. Robert Kim (Weill Cornell Medicine) co-directed the Salzburg Weill Cornell Seminar in Cardiology. In total, 32 fellows from 27 different countries experienced an exceptional week: They had the opportunity to enjoy the last Cardiology seminar led by Dr. Kligfield. Hereafter, Dr Robert J. Kim follows as course director. Medtronic provided state of the art equipment and teaching staff for workshops in Electrophysiology providing the fellows hands-on training.

On Wednesday, November 8, 2017, Alianza Médica para la Salud (AMSA) and the Open Medical Institute (OMI) launched OMI-MEX at the “Club de Industriales” in Mexico City. 

Gerardo Legorreta Creel (AMSA President) welcomed the group. Becky Aguilar-Alvarez de Saenz (AMSA Executive Director), Pablo Legorreta Creel (AMSA Honorary President and Founder) and Dr. Wolfgang Aulitzky (Medical Director, AAF, OMI), gave a short overview of OMI-MEX and AMSA´s accomplishments to date.

OMI-MEX is a joint initiative between the OMI and AMSA. The mission of OMI-MEX is to improve the quality of health services in Mexico and Latin America by offering state-of-the-art medical education to physicians through the participation of doctors in the OMI-MEX Seminars.

Since AMSA´s founding in 2010, 331 Mexican doctors have attended OMI Seminars in various specialties and 25 Satellite Symposia with a total of 1,250 participants took place in different states in Mexico.

On September 8, 2017, the international urological conference on "Male Reproductive Health" took place at The Tashkent Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education (TIPME). Professor Khabilulla Akilov, MD, Rector of TIPME invited Dr. Wolfgang Aulitzky.

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Tashkent Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education, the Department of Urology and Nephrology of TIPME and the AAF/OMI organized the conference. Dr. Ismailov, Head of Department of Science and Educational of the MOH, opened the conference. Lectures on the Symptoms of the lower urinary tract (SNMT) in men, tuberculosis of male genital organs, treatment of erectile dysfunction and male infertility were presented by lecturers from Austria, Russia and Uzbekistan.

Dr. Wolfgang Aulitzky, Medical Director of the American Austrian Foundation, delivered the lecture on “Male Androgen Deficiency”. 450 participants, 150 from rural areas participated. Following the invitation of Dr. Munirakhon Kasimova, Vice Rector for the international Collaboration, Dr. Aulitzky also delivered the lecture on “Mentoring through Individuals & Organizations”.

Margot Gibis, President of the Leir Charitable Foundation, visited Salzburg on October 12, 2017. Following a tour of Schloss Arenberg, Ms. Gibis met Helga Rabl-Stadler, President of the Salzburg Festival, Wilfried Haslauer, Governor of Salzburg and Brigitta Pallauf, President of the Salzburg Provincial Parliament.

On October 23, 2017, following an OMI Medical Education Visiting Professorship, Liam Jan Wasley, chargé
d´affaires of the United States Embassy in Bratislava hosted a reception for Dr. Stephen Ludwig (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia - CHOP) and Wolfgang Aulitzky (OMI). Both received awards for their service.

Dr. Lubica Kovacikova, OMI fellow and a Pediatric Cardiologist at the Pediatric Cardiac Center in Bratislava organized the visiting professorship. She has been an active alumna organizing numerous satellite symposia and visiting professorships since she attended a seminar in Salzburg in 2008.
Dr. Kovacikova also initiated a videoconferencing session between her hospital and CHOP, which was initially conducted using the US Embassy’s videoconferencing equipment. Last year the embassy donated the equipment to her hospital and the sessions continue with Dr. Lee Vogel of CHOP. Dr. Kovacikova recently published a paper in Wiley on the advantages this program has brought to her patients.