Virgolini, Irene

Irene Virgolini received the venia docendi in Experimental Nuclear Medicine as well as in Internal  Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. In 2000, Virgolini became the Director of the Institute of Nuclear Medicine at the Vienna City Hospital Lainz. In 2003, she was appointed as the Director of the University Clinic of Nuclear Medicine at the Medical University of Innsbruck and became the Full Professor of Nuclear Medicine. Since then the further expansion of the Innsbruck University Clinic for Nuclear Medicine in Clinic, Research and Teaching has taken place.

Irene Virgolini's focus in clinical research lies in the development and preclinical validation of new radiopharmaceuticals for Nuclear Medicine for diagnosis and therapy. Under the lead of Virgolini several new Nuclear Medicine tracer procedures have been clinically established. The Nuclear Medicine Department at Innsbruck is involved in national and international co-operation, including the participation in expert committees as well as in scientific projects of the IAEA, both in preclinical development and in the clinical application of radiopharmaceuticals. Her clinical work and recent research has focused on the treatment of metastasized neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer. Irene Virgolini was the President of the World Association of Radiopharmaceutical and Molecular Therapy (WARMTH) in 2018-2019, an international non-profit organization that extends its activities throughout the world. She still serves Nuclear Medicine.

Virgolini has published more than 500 papers, her total impact factor is around 1000, the Hirsch Index >50 which makes her a world-leading expert in the field of Nuclear Medicine. She presented >500 lectures on the topics of molecular imaging and therapy worldwide.