The Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health (IMROH) was established under the name Institute for Industrial Hygiene by the former Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (now Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts) on 27 December 1947 at the initiative of Academy's president Dr Andrija Štampar. Research started in 1949 and involved studying physical and chemical conditions at work and their health effects. From 1953, the Institute expanded to include departments of oncology, immunochemistry, chemotherapy, balneology, climatology, and the history of medicine. This is when it changed name to the Institute for Medical Research.

In 1958, the Institute became independent of the Academy and returned to its roots, that is, to medical research and occupational health, changing its name again to current. Today, IMROH is an independent public institution with thirty years of research in environmental and occupational health. This includes assessment of environmental load with radionuclides, toxic metals, pesticides and other organic pollutants and their effects on health, then air quality measurement and assessment, assessment of allergic, toxic, and psychological effects of a variety of environmental parameters, their effects on genome stability, and sleep disorders.

Mission and focus

IMROH encourages multi-disciplinary approach to studying how chemical, physical, and biological agents in the general and working environment affect biological systems from a macromolecule to an entire organism. This approach has significantly contributed to the understanding of human exposure and risk assessment.

IMROH fulfils their mission through monitoring general and occupational environment (including air, soil, water, and food pollution) and providing occupational health research and professional services. IMROH provides expert advice to law and policy makers related to environmental protection and safety at work, helps implement adopted regulations, and helps to adapt them to the requirements of sustained development, which is under the constant pressure of the growing economy.

On these premises, IMROH has committed itself to encouraging excellence in scientific research, providing reliable environmental monitoring services, and to contributing to education of young scientists through co-operation with universities and to continuing education of its own staff. This is why IMROH has kept the competitive edge and pace with new technologies for so many years.

Last but not least, with its crown jewel, the scientific journal Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, IMROH continues to contribute to the global knowledge on environmental effects on human health.