About ESH
The main purpose of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) is to provide a stable and organized European platform for scientific exchange in hypertension. Professor Alberto Zanchetti and his colleagues initiated a series of European Hypertension Meetings in Milan in the years when the ISH did not hold any scientific meetings. Initially, these were organized without the help and support of a scientific society, except for the 1987 meeting which was organized under the endorsement and cooperation of ISH. The so-called “Milan Meetings” proved to be enormously successful, blending high-quality science and excellent organization with a friendly academic atmosphere of the Milan University. The Milan Meetings were very well-attended, perhaps because of the clear emphasis towards clinical hypertension research. The need for a European Society of Hypertension (ESH) was demonstrated by the success of the Milan Meetings, among other factors. The ESH was created in 1989. Thus, the 4th European Hypertension Meeting in Milan was the first to be organized under the auspices of the ESH.
Much effort was given to make the ESH a true sister society of the ISH, and thus its by-laws and objectives were modeled after those of the ISH. Close cooperation between the two societies has existed since the ESH was first formed. For example, all European members of the ISH were automatically granted membership in the ESH, if desired. The Journal of Hypertension, the official journal of the ISH, was adopted by the ESH as its official journal.
In recent years the activities of the ESH have expanded from simply arranging scientific meetings. One noteworthy event is the European Summer School of Hypertension. This is an annual activity to which young investigators from various European countries are invited for a week of intensive training in the science of hypertension. Another example is the creation of two important awards for scientists in hypertension, the Björn Folkow Award, dedicated to excellence in basic or preclinical work, and the Alberto Zanchetti Life Achievement Award, dedicated to excellence in clinical research.
Other examples of the expanding activities of the ESH are the creation of Working Groups for scientists with special areas of interest; a forum for young investigators; joint meetings for the presidents of the various national hypertension societies in Europe; and the European Hypertension Specialist Programme.
President
Stéphane Laurent (France)
Vice President
Harry A.J. Struijker Boudier (The Netherlands)
Secretary
Krzysztof Narkiewicz (Poland)
Treasurer
Michel Burnier (Switzerland)
Officer At Large
Josep Redon (Spain)
Immediate Past President
Sverre E. Kjeldsen (Norway)
Council Members
Ex-Officio Council Members
Executive Officers
Stéphane Laurent (France)
Vice President
Harry A.J. Struijker Boudier (The Netherlands)
Secretary
Krzysztof Narkiewicz (Poland)
Treasurer
Michel Burnier (Switzerland)
Officer At Large
Josep Redon (Spain)
Immediate Past President
Sverre E. Kjeldsen (Norway)
Council Members
Ettore Ambrosioni (Italy)
Antonio Coca (Spain)
Anna Dominiczak (United Kingdom)
Athanasios J. Manolis (Greece)
Peter Nilsson (Sweden)
Michael Hecht Olsen (Denmark)
Roland E. Schmieder (Germany)
Ex-Officio Council Members
Lars H. Lindholm (Sweden) – ISH Represenative
Robert Fagard (Belgium) - ESC RepresentativeExecutive Officers
Giuseppe Mancia (Italy) - Chairman, Educational Committee
Enrico Agabiti Rosei (Italy) - Coordinator, Working Group
Renata Cifkova (Czech Republic) – Secretary, Educational Committee
Serap Erdine (Turkey) – ESH representative to EBACThe 2007 ESH meeting in Milan (June 15-19) - a broad range of clinical and experimental research with numerous state-of-the-art lectures, oral and poster sessions with original research, plenary sessions, debates, teachings sessions, clinical cases, breakfast workshops, integrated sessions for ESH Working Groups and satellite symposia. Further details available at www.eshonline.org and on the congress website.