The Israeli Society of Atherosclerosis
The Israeli Society of Atherosclerosis founded in 1970, now includes about 250 members comprised of MDs, PhDs and other researchers. It is a professional medical and scientific organization, which connects academic individuals engaged in research, treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis, a major cause of death in the world as well as in the Israeli population. The main agenda of the society is reducing morbidity and mortality with prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis. It also encourages local and international research for better understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease, for new updates and developments in the field, and for carrying out clinical studies to develop new effective and safe treatments.
The Israeli Society of Atherosclerosis periodically publishes guidelines for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis in the Israeli population. The guidelines published first in 1988, were updated in 1995, 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2011. These guidelines are the result of collaboration with the Israeli Societies of Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Family Medicine, Diabetes, Hypertension, Nutrition and Neurovascular Diseases.
The Society holds two annual meetings, one of which is a 3-4 day conference that has become an international event that is well attended by scientists and physicians from all over the world who present their investigative work. This meeting has earned the reputation of being a very high-level scientific meeting, which provides a unique opportunity for young scientists to present and to be exposed to the most prominent investigators in the field and to their latest work. This event has also led to highly satisfactory collaborations between researchers from distant institutions, including fellowships that enable researchers to obtain hands-on experience in institutions outside of their own country.
The Society awards two prizes for excellence to researchers attending the conference, including two annual 7,500 USD research grants. It also subsidizes the participation of young researchers and physicians in the main annual conference in order to encourage their growth and enthusiasm to contribute to the research and treatment of atherosclerosis.