Education of Clinicians and Scientists regarding heart-brain Medicine and Science

There has been a substantial recent increase in our understanding of heart-brain interactions which has challenged previously held conceptions of cardiac function. This results from improved and less invasive methods for investigating the heart and the brain in humans and from the development of animal models. Because this recent research is published in specialized journals, it became clear (as an example) that cardiologists were unaware of the developments that neuroscientists were making in this area, and neuroscientists had little understanding of the clinical and scientific issues relating to the end organ, the heart. Neither had an in depth grasp of the role of psychological factors in determining cardiac outcomes and health.

 

A prime aim of the Society for Heart-Brain Medicine is to educate clinicians and scientists from diverse backgrounds and engage them in multidisciplinary dialogue. The Society anticipates that it will achieve this educational purpose by: a) holding an annual meeting to showcase and discuss the most recent developments in the field; b) sponsoring symposia on topics intimately related to the discipline of heart-brain medicine; c) publishing the results of original research, hypotheses, and reviews by key investigators related to this area.

 

The Society for Heart-Brain Medicine believes that through such educational endeavors, clinicians and scientists will increase their knowledge of the interactions between the heart and the brain and, in turn, improve public health by using this knowledge to make a greater range of healing options available.

 

In addition to its educational conferences, the Society will make educational information available through the internet and peer-reviewed scientific journals (such as the The Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine). The Society may charge an access fee for its educational and scientific resources. However, this will be limited to what is necessary to recoup the cost of publishing and distributing such material and to support the Society’s educational and scientific activities.

 

 

The Society for Heart-Brain Medicine will sponsor a website, informational materials (including visual and written materials) and disseminate information by other means where necessary, in order to guide the public in their understanding of the way in which the brain and heart interact. These materials will be made available free of cost, through educational grants (where necessary) obtained to provide for their development. Interactions with public focus and interest groups will allow Society sponsored speakers to bring key developments in this area to the public attention.