Michael Glikson, MD is the Director of the Davidai Arrhythmia Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel, operating under the auspices of Chaim Sheba Medical Center’s Heart Treatment and Research Center. Prof. Glikson established the institute in 2010 after leading Sheba Medical Center’s electrophysiology (EP) and pacing unit since 2002. The centre is the largest of its kind in Israel, and is pioneering research in the fields of atrial fibrillation ablation and cardiac resynchronisation therapy. Its Electrophysiology and Cardiac Pacing Unit has a well-established collaborative relationship with the Mayo Clinic in the United States. 

Prof. Glikson has been closely involved with the development of national guidelines and training programs in the fields of EP and cardiac device therapy in Israel. As an advocate for the reimbursement of EP and device therapy procedures, he also contributed to the establishment of a national online registry of ICD procedures. He has formerly served as the secretary of the Israeli working group of pacing and EP (1997 - 2001) and the secretary general of the Israel Heart Society (2003 - 2007).

Prof. Glikson is also a member of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) which works to reduce the impact of cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death and to improve the quality of life for Europeans with heart failure. Motivated by what he saw as significant variability in the practices of individual countries which make up the ESC, he continues to organise and fundraise for programs that unify practices across member countries. Since 2009, he has been a member of the EHRA’s scientific document committee. He has been invited to speak and to review abstracts for multiple Europace and ESC meetings. 

In 1982, Prof. Glikson was awarded his MD degree by the Hebrew University School of Medicine in Jerusalem. Following his active military service, he completed a medical residency at the Hebrew University Medical Center and then a fellowship in cardiology at the Sheba Medical Center and Tel Aviv University. In 1992, Prof. Glikson received a Master in Cardiology degree from Tel Aviv University, where he has been a senior lecturer since 2000. He has authored more than 150 academic and clinical research articles and 15 book chapters. 

Prof. Glikson’s master’s studies were followed by a two-year fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. There, he was engaged in research projects related to clinical pacing and electrophysiology. Specifically, his clinical research examined electrode performance, exercise physiology of rate adaptive pacemakers, automatic implantable defibrillators, and pacing in post-operative patients.

Prof. Glikson’s professional affiliation with the Mayo Clinic now continues through the American medical centre’s collaboration with the Davidai Arrhythmia Center. Clinical arrhythmology specialists from both Davidai and the Mayo Clinic’s cardiology department recently initiated a series of videoconferences to discuss complex cases of cardiac arrhythmia and propose joint treatment decisions. “Modern technologies and telemedicine in particular opens great new possibilities for us. It allows us to easily present cases of patients, who are being treated in Israel, to world leading specialists in the field of children’s and adults’ cardiac arrhythmology in real time,” said Prof. Glikson.

Sources: ESC, Sheba Hospital
Photo Credit: 
Sheba Hospital



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Cardiology, Arrhythmia, ESC, ICD, EHRA, Zoom On Michael Glikson, MD is the Director of the Davidai Arrhythmia Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel, operating under the auspices of Chaim Sheba Medical Center’...