Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine

The Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKEM), founded in 1971, is the largest specialized medical and research center in the Czech Republic. It focuses on cardiovascular diseases, organ transplantation, diabetology, and metabolic disorders, providing cutting-edge treatments and innovative therapies. As a state-funded public hospital, IKEM operates under the Czech Ministry of Health, ensuring high-quality care accessible to both domestic and international patients. With its state-of-the-art facilities and a multidisciplinary team of experts, IKEM has become a reference center for complex medical cases, attracting patients from around the world. IKEM is internationally recognized as one of Europe’s leading transplantation centers, performing over 500 organ transplants annually. It specializes in heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, and multi-organ transplants, pioneering advanced techniques in artificial organ development and regenerative medicine. In addition, IKEM is at the forefront of cardiology, heart failure therapy, and robotic-assisted cardiac surgery, making significant contributions to cardiovascular medicine. The hospital is also a global leader in diabetes research and treatment, particularly in pancreatic islet transplantation for patients with type 1 diabetes. Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine comprises four specialized centers: the cardiac center, the transplantation unit, the diabetes center, and the experimental medicine division. These centers are supported by various departments, including the directorate, the economic and operational department, the nursing care and quality unit, the healthcare operations division, and the specialized outpatient care division. The cardiac unit is dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of cardiovascular diseases, including heart transplantation. It collaborates with departments such as cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, anesthesiology, and preventive cardiology. The transplantation division coordinates programs for kidney and liver transplants, as well as combined kidney-pancreas transplants. It works closely with the departments of transplant surgery, anesthesiology, nephrology, hepatogastroenterology, immunology, and transplant documentation. The diabetes center provides comprehensive care for patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Its services include prevention, individualized treatment plans, transplant treatments (such as pancreatic and combined kidney-pancreas transplants), and management of diabetes-related complications. The experimental medicine center focuses on molecular biology, genetics, and the study of experimental pathophysiological models. It serves as a base for postgraduate studies in related fields and manages various research projects funded by grants and institutional resources. A distinctive feature of IKEM is the close connection between laboratory research and direct patient care. Its Experimental Medicine Center includes dedicated research units working on cardiometabolic disease, pancreatic islets, transplantation, experimental hepatology, and isotope-based research. These facilities allow clinical questions to be investigated at the molecular and physiological levels and provide a pathway for promising findings to move toward practical medical applications. The institute has developed particularly strong expertise in the study of insulin-producing tissue. Researchers at the laboratory of the islets of Langerhans investigate the isolation, preservation, transplantation, and monitoring of pancreatic islets. Their work includes experimental approaches to improving the quality of transplanted cells and developing alternative locations in the body for cell implantation. IKEM has also developed a method for imaging transplanted islets with magnetic resonance, helping researchers follow the transplanted tissue after implantation. IKEM's research extends beyond transplantation itself into the mechanisms underlying cardiovascular and metabolic disease. The cardiometabolic research division investigates areas such as hypertension, nephrology, atherosclerosis, insulin resistance, diabetes, and metabolic pathophysiology. Its laboratories examine genetic, inflammatory, and metabolic factors associated with disease and develop methods that can improve the measurement of biological markers used in cardiovascular and metabolic research. The institute also has an important educational function alongside its clinical and scientific work. Its researchers participate in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and supervise students and doctoral researchers in fields connected with cardiovascular medicine, transplantation, metabolism, and experimental medicine. This creates an environment in which clinical specialists, laboratory scientists, and younger researchers work within the same institutional framework, supporting the transfer of scientific knowledge into everyday medical practice. Beyond clinical care, the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine is a major hub for medical research and innovation, collaborating with international institutions and universities to develop groundbreaking therapies. Its clinical research center plays a crucial role in conducting clinical trials of new transplantation methods, artificial organ technologies, and treatments for metabolic diseases. With a team of over 400 physicians, 850 nurses, and 368 hospital beds, including 131 in intensive care, IKEM continues to set new benchmarks in specialized healthcare, providing life-saving treatments and advancing global medical knowledge.