Immediate Past-President

Dov Jaron

Dov Jaron is a Calhoun Distinguished Professor of Engineering in Medicine, at the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University.

He was elected President-Elect and Vice President of the IFMBE for the period from 1997 to 2000, and served as the IFMBE President from 2000 - 2003. He has served as a member of IFMBE's Administrative Council since 1994 and on its Finance Committee and Publications Committee as well as on the International Liaison Committee. He contributed to the activities of many other Committees, Working Groups and Divisions within the IFMBE and in the organisation of the World Congress 2003 in Sydney. He also supported many international and regional conferences.

The most important accomplishment during his tenure as President was the acceptance of IFMBE (through IUPESM) as the first engineering-focused organisation to membership in the International Council of Science (ICSU). This important event signifies the recognition of our accomplishments and contributions by the international scientific community. It brings enormous prestige to individuals whose profession is biomedical engineering.

The second important accomplishment was the establishment of a European organisation (The European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering and Science) that will unite the biomedical engineering community in Europe, elevate the recognition of our profession and provide a strong voice when dealing with the central European government as well as with the national governments.

Dov Jaron received his PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967. He began his career as a Research Associate working on cardiac assist devices, became Director of surgical research and from 1973 to 1980, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Rhode Island. From 1980 to 1996 he served as Director of the Biomedical Engineering and Science Institute at Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he was Professor of Biomedical Engineering and of Electrical and Computer Engineering. From '91 to '93 Dr. Jaron was on a two-year leave to the National Science Foundation (NSF), where he was Director of the Division of Biological and Critical Systems in the Engineering Directorate. Since 1996 he has been on leave to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where he is Associate Director of the National Center for Research Resources and Director of the Biomedical Technology program.

His major research activities have been in the areas of cardiovascular system dynamics and modeling; assessment of cardiovascular function; control and optimisation of cardiac assist devices and cardiovascular function under stress. His research has resulted in close to 200 articles in archival journals, conference proceedings, book chapters and abstracts.

Dr. Jaron is a Fellow of the IEEE, AAAS, Academy of Surgical Research and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He is a member of numerous professional societies. During 1986 and 1987 Dr. Jaron served as President of the IEEE/EMBS. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Biomedical Engineering Society. Dr. Jaron was a member of the committee that founded AIMBE and was a member of its Board of Directors.