האגודה הישראלית לגרונטולוגיה

The Israel Gerontological Society has been established in 1956, witnessing a phenomenal, unprecedented rate and scale of population aging in Israel, as well as around the world. This "demographic revolution" has its specific characteristics in Israel: During the last 50 years, the Israeli society has undergone an intensive aging process, in which the rate of the elderly has multiplied by four; from 3% in the 50's to about 12% in the year 2000.
Israel is also a country that is characterized by:

Absorbing a constant flow of immigrants from 119 countries, many of them - especially of the elderly population - Holocaust survivors, representing a wide spread of ethnic, economic, health, educational and cultural variance.
Living under constant security threats.
Continuously struggling with economic and cultural pressures.

All these pose extreme challenges to the aging processes of its elderly and to the society as a whole. The proper quality of life must be attained for the elderly populations, and the Israeli Gerontological Society attempts to mobilize science, research and policy, to attain it.

The Goals and Specific Aims of the society are :

To promote basic, applied and strategic research in the domains of biology, psychology, medicine, economics and the social sciences.
To serves as a dominant factor in formulating theoretical and practical recommendations for legislators, policy makers governmental agencies, who deal with national gerontological policy in Israel.
To protect the rights of the elderly.
To disseminate information, organize conferences, award prizes, educate and increase public awareness as to the challenges, and the opportunities of aging.

Organizational Structure of IGS
IGS is a voluntary organization which serves as an umbrella body for research and academic institutions, organizations, services and agencies dealing with the subject of aging in Israel. Among the members of IGS are most of the professional community of gerontologists (about 600 registered members). The events it organizes (conferences, seminars, etc.) are attended by thousands. IGS consists of four sections: Social gerontology and behavioral science; Applied gerontology; Medicine and health; Biological gerontology. The society's governing bodies include; a board, an executive committee and officers who are specialists in the different areas of gerontology and head the four sections of the Society. The Society has also established six regional branches across the country: Jerusalem; Haifa and the north; Beit Shean valley; The Western Galilee; Tel Aviv and center; Beer Sheba and the south. In their activities the branches serve professionals as well as the local population. IGS is a member of the International Society on Aging and active in its European section. IGS has close ties and cooperates on specific projects with gerontological governmental, public and private organizations and Universities in Israel and abroad.

Executive Council and Officeres
Executive Council and Officers Consists of: Executive council, Managerial board, Professional sections chairpersons, Regional branches chairpersons.

Chairman:	Prof. Jacob Lomranz
Vice Chair:	Dr. Yitshal Berner
Executive Secretary:	Dr. Aviva Kaplan
Treasurer:	Mr. Yaacov Kabilou
Legal Advisor:	Adv. Hagit Friedman
"Gerontology" Editor:	Prof. Yossef Katan
Review Committee:	Mrs. Lucy Kessler (Chairman), Dr. Alik Ioffe, Mrs. Esther Stern
Board:	Chairman, Vice chair, Executive Secretary, Treasurer and Chairpersons of professional sections
Administrative Assistant:	Mrs. Rina Arbel

Chairpersons of sections :

Applied gerontology:	Dr. Yitzhak Brick
Medicine and health:	Dr. Yitshal Berner
Biology:	Dr Eli Carmeli
Social gerontology & Behavioral sciences:	Mrs. Jenny Brodsky

Council Members:

Prof. Jacob Lomranz (chairman)	Dr. Israel Doron	Mr. Yaacov Kabilou
Dr. Yitshal Berner (vice chair)	Mrs. Pnina Eyal	Prof. Yossef Katan
Mrs. Leah Abramowitz	Mr. Haggay Fux	Mrs. Klara Lewin
Dr. Yitzhak Brick	Prof. Hava Golander	Prof. Ariela Lowenstien
Mrs. Jenny Brodsky	Mr. Zvi Handler	Mrs. Nurith Stavy
Dr. Sara Carmel	Dr. Shira Hantman	Mrs. Tali Tzuk
Dr. Eli Carmeli	Dr. Esther Iecovich

Chairpersons of Regional Branches:

Jerusalem:	Mrs. Nurith Stavy
Tel Aviv and center:	Dr. Shira Hantman
Haifa and north:	Mr. David Ulman
Western Gallili:	Mrs. Malca Godel
Beit Shean Valley:	Mr. Haggay Fux
Beer Sheba and south:	Dr. Vera Fried

Ongoing Activities of IGS Include :

Publishing a quarterly journal of aging studies and information "Gerontology" (in Hebrew, including summaries in English).
Biannual Conferences of the society are held regularly (since 1976) and host guests from abroad.
An annual symposium on the International Day of the Elderly is held each October. The symposium is supported by the Berta and Emillio Motlis Fund.
The annual Honorary Shimon Bergman Lecture series, since 1998, Prize recipients and speakers included: James Birren, Paul Lawton, Lady Sally Greengross.
Initiating and organizing conferences, seminars and regional meetings, mostly interdisciplinary in nature. These are organized in cooperation with academic institutes in Israel and abroad, the regional branches, and are useful for disseminating the latest research findings in the field.
Awarding prizes and honorary certificates for outstanding research projects and paying respect to individuals for their contribution in the field of gerontology. Among others: The Prochovnik prize for advanced research, is awarded annually for outstanding research projects. This prize is given to young gerontologist to promote their career development. Honorary Certificates are awarded for a specific or lifetime contribution to the promotion of gerontology in Israel.

Recent International Conferences on Gerontology held in Israel
Many international conferences on different aspects of aging were held in Israel since the 1975 world international congress in Jerusalem. A partial list of conferences organized in cooperation with the IGS include:

December 1997 - The 2nd Tel Aviv University Herczeg Institute on Aging, International Forum, on "The rights of sick elderly - In the new law" Chair: Prof. Haim Hazan.
1996 / 1998 / 2000 - The Bessie and Louis Stein International Geriatrics Conference on "Aging in the Mediterranean and the Middle East" Chair: Prof. Gideon Friedman.
1997 - The Bat Sheva de Rothschild International seminar on "Cellular and Molecular Genetic Aspects of Aging and Longevity" Chair: Prof. Amiela Globerson.

Forthcoming Projects

A conference on Aging and the Aged in Post-Modern Israel : The goal of this conference is to document the gerontological present state of art, its demands and future. The conference is based on a broad network of task and consensus groups in the gerontological fields of medicine and health, psychosocial gerontology; biology; economics, law and policy. Results of this conference should serve a guide to policy, law makers, researchers and practitioners.
IGS is currently planning to establish an Ombudsman office, as a nonprofit, independent public organization, striving to protect and advocate the rights of the elderly in the institutional and individual domains, in order to improve the quality of life of the elderly in Israel.

Donations for the advancement of IGS goals and activities are welcomed and will be highly appreciated.