George Bakris  美国芝加哥大学

　　<International Circulation>: You are the current past President of ASH and I was wondering if you could give us an overview of what the goals are for the organization?

　　Prof. Bakris:  The organization has evolved over time from its inception in the 1980’s as a group incorporating multiple specialties in cardiology， nephrology， general medicine and endocrinology to get together to cover the mechanisms and understand the pathophysiology of hypertension as well as those topics relating to genetics， vascular biology and so on. It has grown beyond just involving physicians to research fellows to nurse practitioners and healthcare providers such as PAs (physician assistants). The organization has dramatically changed in the last five to seven years in the sense that it is now concerned not only with science but is trying to be more involved in public education and public awareness and at the same time expand to include related healthcare workers such as nurse practitioners and PAs， as well as pharmacists especially in academic practice. It helps to mold together an approach that will benefit the patient and also help improve health outcomes. Additionally we have expanded internationally. We have a number of international groups that collaborate with us， mostly in educational efforts but there has been some discussion about research efforts to focus on issues dealing with their respective populations. For the past four or five years， we have had a delegation from China attend the meeting and make presentations. Last year was a personal best; we had no less than twelve joint sessions with various groups from around the world including the European Society of Hypertension， the British Hypertension Society， the International Society of Hypertension， the American Society of Nephrology， the Chinese Hypertension Society， the Philippine Hypertension Society and others who had organized scientific sessions as part of the meeting. So clearly there has been an expansion internationally. There has been a focus on expanding into pool of people who take care of hypertensive patients and there has been an expansion into the basic science community to bring together not just a focus on mechanisms of disease but mechanisms of disease as it relates to understanding bedside management. So its more than just what the blood pressure measurement provides， pure mechanism， pure understanding at the cellular level; the whole meeting is linked up so that if there is a basic science finding， it is related back to clinical data where it is applicable and can be applied in real time at the bedside and if not， when is the likelihood of it being available， if ever. So we have the international dimension and expansion to other healthcare professionals and the patient focus. The other thing that happens annually is a large screening program that occurs in the city where the meeting is held. There are multiple lectures put on by faculty at various medical schools in the area， this year in San Francisco although traditionally it is in New York. Also with the city of San Francisco and the city of New York， there are screening programs which are generally set up in hospitals or community centers where people can come in and get their blood pressure checked and get information on diet and appropriate therapies and there is the capacity to be able to be hooked up with hypertension specialists in the area on request. As a broad overview， that pretty much sums it up.