1984-1991 -Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem

March 1991-February 1992 - Intern, Hadassah University Hospitals Jerusalem

March 1992-February 1996 - Resident in Internal Medicine, Hadassah  University Hospital, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem.

October 1994- - Clinical instructor in internal medicine- Hebrew University- Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem

March 1996 - Board certified in Internal Medicine- Israel Medical  Association

March 1996-December 1998 - Fellow in Cardiology, Hadassah University Hospital, Ein-Karem, Jerusalem

March 1996 - ACLS  instructor.

December 1998 - Board certified in Cardiology- Israel Medical Association

December 1998- July 2000 - Staff Cardiologist- Cardiology Department- Echocardiography Unit, Hadassah University Hospital, Ein-Karem, Jerusalem

July 2000 - Research Fellow in Medicine- Harvard Medical School, Cardiac Ultrasound Lab, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.

August 2002 - Staff Cardiologist- Cardiology Department- J Echocardiography Unit, Hadassah University Hospital, Ein-Karem, Jerusalem

Professional Societies:

Member – Israel Medical Association; Fellow- Israel Heart Society, Member- European Society of Cardiology; Member- American Society of  Echocardiography; Member (affiliate), American College of Cardiology; Member, Council on basic cardiovascular sciences, American Heart Association.

Awards and Prizes

June 1996 - The Shafarman Memorial Fund award for outstanding research - Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem.

May 1999 - The Eisenberg Fund award for research in treatment and prevention of    heart diseases.

July 2001 - American Society of Echocardiography research award

August ‏2002 - The Prof. H. Neufeld Memorial Research Award (USA-Israel Binational Science Foundation). 

Peer reviewed publications

1.       Zimmerman J, Arnon R, Beeri R, Keret D, Lysy J, Ligumski M, Gonzalez J, Fich A, Ackerman Z, Goldin E. Seasonal fluctuations in acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding: No effect of non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs. Am J Gastroenterol  1992;87(11):1587-90

2.       Zimmerman J, Arnon R, Ligumsky M, Beeri R , Keret D, Lysy J, Fich A, Tsvang E, Siguencia J, Gonzalez J, et al. Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding in Jerusalem 1988-91: Causes, characteristics and relation to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Isr J Med Sci 1993;29:292-7.

3.       Beeri R, Golan G, Steiner I, Mevorach D, Brezis M. Transverse myelitis heralding hepatitis A. J Clin Gastroenterol 1995;20(3):262-3.

4.       Golan G, Beeri R,  Mevorach D. Henoch-Schonlein purpura-like disease representing a flare of Behcet’s disease. Br J Rheumatol 1994;33(12):1198-9.

5.       Beeri R, Symon Z, Brezis M, Ben-Sasson SA, Baehr PH, Rosen S, Zager RA. Rapid DNA fragmentation from hypoxia along the thick ascending limb of rat kidneys. Kidney Int  1995;47(6):1806-10.

6.       Zimmerman J, Siguencia J, Tsvang E, Beeri R, Arnon R. Predictors of mortality in patients admitted to hospital for acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Scand J Gastroenterol 1995;30(4):327-31.

7.       Zahger D, Milgalter E, Pollak A, Hasin Y, Merin G, Beeri R, Gotsman MS. Left ventricular free wall rupture as the presenting manifestation of acute myocardial infarction in diabetic patients. Am J Cardiol 1996;78:681-2.

8.       Fuchs S, Jaffe R, Beeri R, Rosen S, Heyman SN, Brezis M. Failure of insulin-like growth factor 1 to improve radiocontrast nephropathy. Exp Nephrol 1997;5:88-94.

9.       Jaffe R, Ariel I, Beeri R, Paltiel O, Hiss Y, Rosen S , Brezis M. Frequent apoptosis in human kidneys after acute renal hypoperfusion. Exp Nephrol 1997;5:399-403.

10.  Fuchs S, Beeri R, Hasin Y, Weiss AT, Gotsman MS, Zahger D. Pituitary apoplexy as a first manifestation of pituitary adenomas following intensive thombolytic and antithrombotic therapy.  Am J Cardiol 1998;81:110-111.

11.  Amitai Y, Beeri R . Automatic autoinjectors hazard: penetration through bone. Ann Pharmacother 1999;33:751-752.

12.  Beeri R, Guerrero JL, Supple G, Sullivan S, Levine RA, Hajjar RJ. A New Efficient Catheter-Based System for Myocardial Gene Delivery. Circulation 2002; 106: 1756-1759

Abstracts in Scientific Meetings

1.       Beeri R, Symon Z, Fuchs S, Shina A, Abramovich D, Rosen S, Brezis M. DNA fragmentation: an early, specific response of distal tubules to metabolic work in hypoxia. 13th International Congress of Nephrology, July 1995.

2.       Heyman SN, Fuchs S, Yafe R, Beeri R, Shina A, Brezis M. Impaired renal medullary microcirculation and tissue-dammage during acute ureteral obstruction- clinical implications. Annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology, September 1995.

3.       Fuchs S, Jaffe R, Beeri R, Heyman SN, Shina A, Rosen S, Brezis M. Failure of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) to improve radiocontrast nephropathy. Annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology, September 1995.

4.       Beeri R, Gilon D, S Fuchs, Varshitzky B, Pollak A, Gostman MS, Hasin Y. The role of routine echocardiography in the cardiac intensive care unit. Annual meeting of the Israel Heart Society, April 1997.

5.       Beeri R, Gilon D, S Fuchs, Varshitzky B, Pollak A, Gostman MS, Hasin Y. The role of routine echocardiography in the cardiac intensive care unit. 1st International Meeting of Intensive Cardiac Care. June 1998.

6.       Beeri R, Fixler R., Hasin Y. Natriuretic peptides and endothelin have opposing effect on neonatal rat cadiomyiocyte apoptosis. Annual meeting of the Israel Heart Society, April 2000

7.       Gilon D, Lubowski O, Pollak A, Beeri R, Hasin Y. Aortic regurgitation in the elderly: Clinical and echocardiographic characteristics. Annual Meeting of the Israel Heart Society, April 2000.

8.       Beeri R, Leavitt M, Palacios IF, Levine RA.  Prevalence and coronary correlations of the “T-sign” in patients with inferior left ventricular wall motion abnormalities: Clue to avoid right ventricular neglect annual. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001;37:394A.

9.       Beeri R, Leavitt M, Morris E, Levine RA.  The clinical overdiagnosis of heart failure: Role of echocardiography in clarification.  J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2001;14:489.

10.  Han B, Fixler R, Beeri R, Wang H, Bachrach U, Hasin Y. C-Type Natriuretic Peptide (CNP) Induces Apoptosis in Neonatal Rat Cardiac Myocytes. Circulation. 2001;104:II739

11.  Beeri R, Guerrero JL, Sullivan S, Supple G, Levine RA. A Novel Efficient Percutaneous Myocardial Gene Delivery System. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2002;39:185A

12.  Beeri R, Leavitt M, Morris E, Levine RA. Congestive symptoms with normal systolic function: elevated LV mass versus body mass. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2002;15:534.

13.  Beeri R, Streckenbach SC, Isselbacher EM, Akins CW, Vlahakes GJ, Adams MS, Levine RA. The "Crossed Swords" Sign: Clue to Bileaflet Involvement and Need for Repair in Mitral Valve Prolapse. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2002;15:537

Invited presentations and faculty membership

2000- Faculty member and invited speaker- Annual Refresher Course in Intensive Care (Limassol, Cyprus).

Grant support

ASE Grant-In-Aid - Beeri, PI, 1/7/2001-30/6/2002 American Society of Echocardiography. Influence of Mitral Regurgitation on Myocardial Remodeling after Myocardial Infarction: Echocardiographic and Cellular Assessment. Role: PI

5 R01 HL 38176-09 - Levine, PI, 1/6/1998-30/6/2003,NIH/NHLBI. Integrated Mechanism of Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation. Role: Investigator

2001037 - Beeri, PI, 1/9/2002-30/8/2006 BSF. Influence of Mitral Regurgitation on Myocardial Remodeling after Myocardial Infarction. Role: PI

Current Research Interests

Models of chronic mitral regurgitation in large and small animals. This serves as a basis for many of my research projects. The first model we developed was a LV-LA shunt in a sheep, causing a fixed predictable systolic regurgitant flow, and subsequent myocardial remodeling as expected. Another model, both in sheep and rodents, involves apical tethering of the subvalvular apparatus and thus creation of MR in a mechanism similar to ischemic mitral regurgitation.

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Cellular mechanisms of heart failure development in chronic mitral regurgitation. This project is in preparation, and involves long term follow-up of sheep with LV-LA shunt, using invasive pressure-volume monitoring in the wake animal using skin button terminals, three-dimensional echocardiography, molecular studies, and neurohumoral factors assessment. The hypothesis is that we can identify factors which precede the deterioration of cellular function, and thus the point in which mitral valve repair would not cause worsening of LV ejection fraction.

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Influence of mitral regurgitation on post myocardial infarction remodeling.  This study means to verify the hypothesis that mitral regurgitation, which is a frequent complication of myocardial infarction, worsens the remodeling process which invariably occurs after it. It is examined in the LV-LA shunt model, in which an antero-apical myocardial infarction is also created. Follow up is performed twice in three months, after which the animals are sacrificed. The parameters followed include invasive pressure-volume assessment, three dimensional echocardiography, blood neurohumoral factor assays, molecular studies in the tissue (including apoptosis, intra-cellular proteins and genes activated in hypertrophy and failure, and changes in extra-cellular matrix composition and remodeling), and single cell contractility and calcium transients studies. This study is under way, and preliminary results are available.

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Development of closed-chest delivery systems for myocardial gene therapy . We developed a delivery system, based on a balloon catheter, acetylcholine and echocardiographic contrast, to deliver reporter gene-encoding adenoviral vectors in a rat model. This study demonstrated that the system is significantly more efficient than each one of its components alone. We are currently testing a modification of this system in a large animal model (sheep) using adeno-associated virus as a vector.

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Color Doppler correlates of leaflet pathology in mitral valve prolapse. We demonstrated retrospectively that the presence of two jets of mitral regurgitation in mitral valve prolapse patients signifies bileaflet pathology, which necessitates a complex repair procedure. We are currently validating this finding using a flow model, and corroborating this finding prospectively using intra-operative three-dimensional echo.

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Correlation between congestive symptoms with preserved systolic function, and echocardiographic parameters of relaxation. We demonstrated, in a cohort of patients referred for a first echo to evaluate congestive symptoms, that the majority of those with normal ejection fraction do not have any echocardiographic evidence of filling (diastolic) abnormalities at rest. One possible explanation for these findings was the significant preponderance of obesity in this group as compared with the patients in which pathology was found. We intend to confirm these findings, and possibly identify further alternative explanations, by performing a large prospective study in collaboration with several centers.

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Mechanism of mitral regurgitation in anterior myocardial infarction. This study aims to define the mechanism by which mitral regurgitation occurs in some patients with anterior myocardial infarction. This is performed in the sheep model using three-dimensional echo.

Past Research Projects

Prognosis of patients admitted to the hospital with upper GI bleeding- The influence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Apoptosis in the kidney: the influence of the level of hypoxia, changes in metabolic work and mitochondrial respiratory chain inhibitors on the hypoxia-induced apoptosis in the distal tubule of rat kidneys- experiments using the isolated-perfused rat kidney model.

Apoptosis in the kidney: its appearance and modulation by growth factors in the in-vivo model of radio-contrast nephropathy in the rat.

Apoptosis in the kidney: Occurrence in human acute renal failure- an autopsy study.

Apoptosis in the kidney: The influence of hydronephrosis on apoptosis in the rat kidney papilla.

Apoptosis in the kidney in an experimental model of hepato-renal syndrome.

 The clinical impact of routine echocardiography in the intensive care unit- a longitudinal study.

The influence of Glucose-Insulin-Potassium solution treatment in patients with acute myocardial infarction on prognostic parameters: heart-rate variability, ischemic episodes. LV function, arrhythmias and late-potentials.

Clinical and echocardiographic correlates of pericardial tamponade.

Echocardiography in malignant lymphoma.

Echocardiographic correlates of heat acclimation in a rat model of myocardial infarction.

The role of the polyamine pathway in cardiac hypertrophy and failure.

Apoptosis in neonatal cardiomyocytes in culture- its modulation by neuro-humoral factors (angiotensin, endothelin, natriuretic peptides, epinephrine) and cytokines (IL-6, LIF), and its correlation to physiology, morphology and metabolism.

Teaching Experience

1992- 2000- Internal medicine and cardiology bedside teaching and department lectures- 4th and 6th year medical students.

1994- Member of the faculty inquiry committee on psychiatry teaching (Prof. Feldman- chair)

1999- Instruction in cardiology for graduate students in clinical pharmacy .

1998-2000- Basic course in internal medicine (cardiology)- 4th year medical students. (2000- course director).

996-2000- ACLS course- The Hadassah School of Resuscitation. Subjects: myocardial infarction, resuscitation pharmacology, arrhythmia recognition and management, hands-on training.

1998-2000- Basic cardiology- Post-graduate course in intensive care- Hadassah Nursing School (cardiac anatomy and physiology, valvular diseases, heart catheterizations, cardiac pacemakers).

1998-2000- Basic cardiology- School of biomedical technologists (course co-director).

For List of Publications please see PubMed