Itamar Raz, M.D.

Itamar Raz, M.D., is an associate professor of Internal Medicine at Hadassah University Medical Center and the head of the Diabetes Unit at Hadassah and director of the diabetes clinics at Hadassah University. Professor Raz received his M.D. from Hebrew University and completed post graduate studies at Hadassah Medical Center. He is currently director of the diabetes clinics at Hadassah University. In addition, he is the director of the Hadassah Center for the Prevention of Diabetes and its Complications. He also serves as the Endocrinology Consultant for the Israeli Defense Forces and several Israeli Health Maintenance Organizations.
Professor Raz has published extensively in the area of diabetes mellitus with over a 130 publications to his credit. Professor Raz research interests have focused on the pathologic mechanisms leading to diabetic complications. Much of the research done in his lab has dealt with the specific factors in the signal transduction pathway leading to diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy. These factors include insulin, glucose, insulin growth factor-1, endothelins, and anti-oxidants.
Professor Raz maintains an active clinical research program. He heads the Diabetes Clinical Research Center which is involved in numerous studies studying the efficacy of different therapies for diabetes. He is the Director of the newly formed Hadassah Diabetes Research Center which is focusing on experimental and innovative therapies for diabetes such as islet cell transplantation. As president of the Israel Diabetes Research Group, he is collaborating with 18 other diabetologists in Israel in conducting clinical research aimed at improving the treatment of diabetics. At Hadassah, Professor Raz is studying the effects of a large number of medications on diabetic complications, and is also conducting studies with vaccines to prevent diabetes. Currently, Professor Raz is involved in expanding the activities of the Hadassah Center for the Prevention of Diabetes and its Complications which will include an Islet Cell Transplantion Unit.
Professor Raz is the President of the Israeli Diabetes Association. He also serves as the President of the Eastern European and Mediterranean Research Consortium. He serves on several advisory boards and is a member of several editorial boards including the Israeli Medical Association Journal (IMAJ). Recently, Professor Raz and other leading physicians and researchers established a committee sponsored by the Israeli Medical Association whose goal is to lay the foundation for the future Israeli Institute of Health which will take a leading role in formulating and directing national research initiatives.