ISH New Council Members 2024-2028

The International Society of Hypertension (ISH) was pleased to welcome its newly elected Council Members during the General Meeting at the ISH Cartagena Biennial Scientific Meeting on 21st September 2024.

Brief biographies of the five ISH Members who will serve an initial four year term (2024-2028) are provided below.

Dagnovar Aristizabal (Colombia)

Dagnovar Aristizabal, a Colombian physician, is dedicated to advancing the diagnosis and treatment of arterial hypertension through cardiac and arterial hemodynamic implementation in clinical practice. He obtained his MD and cardiology degree from the Pontifical Bolivarian University in Medellin, Colombia. He continued with a fellowship in hypertension under the guidance of Drs. Edward Frohlich and Franz Messerli at the Ochsner Foundation in New Orleans, USA. There, he conducted experimental work on the response of isolated hearts from SHR and WKY rats to pressure overload, focusing on early RNA expression. Later, he delved into hypertension genetics with Mark Caulfield (UK), studying genes of the renin-angiotensin system and adrenergic system in Latin American populations. Currently, his research focuses on distinguishing various hemodynamic phenotypes and their components, including neurogenic, cardiogenic, volumetric, vasoconstrictive, and arterial stiffness aspects, utilizing clinical diagnostic methods such as ABPM, impedance cardiography, and pulse wave velocity. Dr. Aristizabal is the founder and scientific director of SICOR, a research and teaching center in Medellin, Colombia.

Hind Beheiry (Sudan)

Hind Beheiry is an associate professor of Human Physiology with extensive experience in teaching and leadership in medical education. She holds a Ph.D., M.Sc. in Human Physiology, and MBBS from the University of Khartoum, a master’s in health professional education (MHPE), from Gezira University, FRCP-London 2023, a certificate from the Harvard Medical School Global Clinical Scholars Research Training Program (HMS-GCSRT) with a concentration in Clinical Trials 2024 and HPD in research methods and medical ethics. Hind is a member of the Pan-African Hypertension Management Guidelines Development Committee 2024. She has a strong research background and has led significant academic and community service initiatives in hypertension, breast cancer campaigns, and HIV/AIDS in Sudan. Currently, she is serving as the Director of the Educational Development and Research Centre and has held successful administrative and leadership roles as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dean of the Faculty of Nursing Sciences at the International University of Africa, Sudan.

Débora Colombari (Brazil)

Débora Colombari is a professor of physiology and director of a basic research laboratory at the São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, Brazil. Her education includes a pharmacy degree in 1992 at UNESP, Master’s degree in 1995 at University of São Paulo (USP), a year internship at Dr. Alan Kim Johnson – University of Iowa, USA – and a PhD in Pharmacology (1999). Débora did post-doc in Brazil at UNIFESP (1999-2000), and in 2001, she became an Assistant Professor of Physiology at the School of Dentistry –UNESP. She did a sabbatical at the University of Bristol, UK, in Dr David Murphy’s laboratory (Neuroscience and Cardiovascular Regulation). At UNESP, she became an Associate Professor of physiology in 2009 and a Full Professor of Physiology in 2023. From 2017-2020, she was the Director of the Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences (UNESP), currently Débora is the Head of the Department of Physiology and Pathology.

Erika Jones (South Africa)

Erika Jones is a clinician and associate professor at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She specialised in Internal Medicine and subsequently sub-specialised in Nephrology and Hypertension. Prior to specialising she completed her PhD through the University of Cape Town. Erika is involved in clinical medicine, teaching and research. She has been on the board for the South African Hypertension Society for the last 7 years, including serving as the Treasurer for the society and now as the President. She has been involved with the International Society of Hypertension for the last four years. During this time, Erika was an active member of the Communications Committee and Lead for the monthly eBulletin. She has contributed to two ISH publications: Addressing global disparities in blood pressure control: Perspectives of the International Society of Hypertension and Reduction of Salt Intake: Time for More Action. Erika is the Chair for the ISH Academy; an educational platform in development.

Yan Li, China

Yan Li pursued undergraduate studies in Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China from 1989 to 1994, and then worked as a resident physician in the Department of Cardiology at Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Nanjing, China) till 1997. She then moved to Shanghai and obtained a master’s degree from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2000. From 2000 to 2003, Yan pursued her Ph.D. degree in Cardiovascular Medicine under the supervision of Prof. Dingliang Zhu in the Shanghai Institute of Hypertension, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. From 2004 to 2005, she studied as a visiting scholar on hypertension epidemiology in the Hypertension Unit, University of Leuven, Belgium under the guidance of Prof. Jan A. Staessen.