Rafael (Rafi) Beyar (; born 20 January 1952) is an Israeli medical doctor, entrepreneur, and professor who is the eighth director of
Rambam Health Care Campus
Rambam Health Care Campus () commonly called Rambam Hospital, is a teaching hospital in the Bat Galim neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. Rambam Health Care Campus is a part of Tertiary Referral Center for Northern Israel, It was founded in 1938.
It ...
since 1996. Beyar, an authority on
interventional cardiology
Interventional cardiology is a branch of cardiology that deals specifically with the catheter based treatment of structural heart diseases. Andreas Gruentzig is considered the father of interventional cardiology after the development of angioplast ...
, also continues to practice in his specialty of clinical invasive cardiology. Beyar is the editor of several books related to cardiology and electrophysiology, including ''Frontiers in Interventional Cardiology'', ''Proceedings from International Meetings'', ''Analysis of Cardiac Development: from Embryo to Old Age''; and co-founder of
Corindus Vascular Robotics.
Career
Beyar was born on 20 January 1952 in
Petah Tikva
Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...
to Rina and Dr. Haim Beyar. Beyar grew up in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
. He graduated from the School of Medicine of
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
in 1977 (MD), the Faculty of
Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic purposes). BME also integrates the logica ...
at the
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in 1983 (DSc), and the
Bloomberg School of Public Health
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university primarily based in Baltimore, Maryland.
It was founded as the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene ...
,
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
in 2008 (MPH).
In 1983, Prof. Beyar founded the Heart System Research Center at the Technion, where he served as Coordinator and Director. He completed his residency in medicine at Rambam (1983-1985) and a fellowship in cardiology at Johns Hopkins University (1985-1987). In 1996, he was appointed Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Medicine at the Technion.
He is also the Director of the Division of Invasive Cardiology at Rambam since 1996, and served as visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University for several years.
Dean, Faculty of Medicine
In 1998, Beyar was elected Dean of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion and served for the full six-year term. Under his leadership, Professor Avram Hershko and Professor Aaron Ciechanover were awarded the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...
in October 2004.
Director General, Rambam Health Care Campus (2006-2019)
From 2006 to 2019, Beyar served as the Director of
Rambam Health Care Campus
Rambam Health Care Campus () commonly called Rambam Hospital, is a teaching hospital in the Bat Galim neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. Rambam Health Care Campus is a part of Tertiary Referral Center for Northern Israel, It was founded in 1938.
It ...
in Haifa, Israel, the major academic hospital serving northern Israel. Beyar has helped leadership in defining Rambam's mission to create the future of medicine for humankind, with the vision of setting the highest of standards for patient care via the intertwining of medicine, technology, research, education, and humanity.
In the summer of 2006, Beyar successfully led the hospital through the
second Lebanon war
The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...
, when Rambam treated civilian patients as well as wounded soldiers from the frontiers while under continuous missile attack. Under his leadership, and inspired by Rambam's vision and mission, the hospital is now undergoing an enhanced medical development initiative which includes restructuring of the medical and surgical departments, and promotion of medical research including establishment of the Clinical Research Institute at Rambam and creating research programs for young clinician scientists.
Beyar is also spearheading a major development plan to bring together medicine, science, and technology for the improvement of healthcare. Rambam is now in the final construction stages for the world's largest fortified underground emergency hospital which, together with the new emergency department, will assure northern Israel's preparedness for emergency conditions. In 2014 the Ruth Rappaport Children's Hospital opened, in 2015 the Fishman Oncology Center was inaugurated, and a new cardiovascular hospital is scheduled for completion in 2016. Following government approval, construction is scheduled to begin shortly on a new Biomedical Discovery Tower which will host new innovations in medicine.
Research and awards
Beyar has received several prizes over the course of his career, including the Taub Prize for excellence in Research in 1999, and the Michelle Mirowski Award for Accomplishments in Cardiovascular Medicine, from the Israeli Heart Association in 2002. In 2005 he was nominated for the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars for his worldwide contribution to cardiovascular science and for establishing the Technion-Johns Hopkins Collaboration Program on Biomedical Sciences and Engineering.
Beyar's research and clinical interests range from mathematical simulation to imaging and analysis of the
cardiovascular system
In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...
, and to the development of
stents
In medicine, a stent is a tube usually constructed of a metallic alloy or a polymer. It is inserted into the Lumen (anatomy), lumen (hollow space) of an anatomic vessel or duct to keep the passageway open.
Stenting refers to the placement of ...
and new technologies in cardiology. He developed the first robotic catheterization system in the world which was subsequently approved by the United States
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
(FDA) and is now used in clinical practice. He has authored over 220 scientific publications and 15 books, is the founding editor of ''Acute Cardiac Care Journal'', endorsed by the
European Society of Cardiology
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is an independent Nonprofit organisation, non-profit, non-governmental professional association that works to advance the prevention, diagnosis and management of diseases of the heart and blood vessels, a ...
, and is organizer and founder of leading professional cardiovascular meetings combining basic cardiovascular research, clinical cardiology and cardiovascular innovations.
Books
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Eds. Simulation and Imaging of the Cardiac System. State of the Heart: Proceedings of the First Henry Goldberg Workshop, Haifa, Israel, March 4–7, 1984. Martinus Nijhoff Publ, The Hague, 1985.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Eds. Activation Metabolism and Perfusion of the Heart: Proceedings of the Third Henry Goldberg Workshop, Piscataway, NJ, April, 1986. Martinus Nijhoff Publ. The Hague, 1987.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Eds. Simulation and Control of the Cardiac System: Proceedings of the Second Henry Goldberg Workshop, Haifa, Israel, April, 1985. CRC Press, Boca Raton FL, Vols. I, II, III, 1987.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Eds. Analysis and Simulation of the Cardiac System—Ischemia: Proceedings of the 4th Henry Goldberg Workshop, Tiberias, Israel, May, 1987. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1989.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Eds. Imaging, Analysis and Simulation of the Cardiac System: Proceedings of the 5th Henry Goldberg Workshop, Cambridge, UK, May, 1988. Freund Publishers, London, 1990.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Eds. Imaging, Measurement and Analysis of the Heart: Proceedings of the 6th Henry Goldberg Workshop, Eilat, Israel, Dec. 3–7, 1989. Hemisphere Publishing Co, NY, 1991.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Kléber A, Eds. Cardiac Electrophysiology, Circulation and Transport: Proceedings of the 7th Henry Goldberg Workshop, Berne, Switzerland, May 13–17, 1990. Kluwer Academic Publ, MA, 1991.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Eds. Interactive Phenomena in the Cardiac System: Proceedings of the 8th Henry Goldberg Workshop, Bethesda, MD, Dec. 6–10, 1992. Plenum Press, NY, 1993.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Eds. Molecular and Subcellular Cardiology: Effects of Structure and Function: Proceedings of the 9th Henry Goldberg Workshop, Haifa, Israel, Dec. 4–8, 1994. Plenum Press, NY, 1995.
# Beyar R, Keren G, Leon M, Serruys P, Eds. Frontiers in Interventional Cardiology. Martin Dunitz Publ., London, 1997.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Eds. Analytical and Quantitative Cardiology: From Genetics to Function; Proceedings of the 10th Henry Goldberg Workshop, Haifa, Israel, Dec. 2–5, 1996. Plenum Press, NY, 1997.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Eds. Cardiac Engineering: From Genes & Cells to Structure & Function. Ann N Y Acad Sci, vol. 1015, 2004.
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Landesberg A, Eds. The Communicative Cardiac Cell. Ann N Y Acad Sci, vol 1047, 2005. .
# Sideman S, Beyar R, Landesberg A, Eds. Control and Regulation of Transport Phenomena in the Cardiac System. Ann N Y Acad Sci, vol. 1123, 2008.
# Beyar R, Landesberg A, Eds. Analysis of Cardiac Development: From Embryo to Old Age. Ann N Y Acad Sci, vol. 1188, 2010.
References
External links
Rambam Health Care Campus WebsiteBooks by Rafael BeyarArticles in PUBMED by Rafael Beyar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beyar, Rafael
Living people
1952 births
Tel Aviv University alumni
Israeli cardiologists
Academic staff of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology