Henry H. Neufeld was born in Lwowek, Poland on March 13, 1923. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Vienna in 1948 and completed his 3 years residency in this same town. From 1951 to 1959 he served as a cardiologist at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv. After working for two years as a research fellow under E.H. Wood at the May, Henry Neufeld returned to the Chaim Sheba Medical Center to direct the new Heart Institute. He was quickly promoted to Professor of Medicine, Israeli Minister of Health (1962), Professor of Cardiology, Chaim Sheba Chair of Cardiology, Tel Aviv University Medical School. Prof. Neufeld chaired several major committees in the Tel Aviv University Medical School, the University Senate and finally got the title of Distinguished Professor of Cardiology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. Professor Neufeld made extraordinarily wide contributions as a member of various Heart Foundations and Heart Societies. He was President of the Israel Heart Association, of the Asian-Pacific Society of Cardiology and President of the International Society and Federation of Cardiology (now called World Heart Federation) in 1981 and 1982. He worked in several committees of the World Health Organization, including the WHO Task Force against heart disease. In 1985 he received the Israel Prize for Medicine. He was an honorary member of several foreign cardiac associations and held a Honorary Citation for International Achievement of the American Heart Association. He published over 400 articles in major cardiology journals, 10 books and 22 book chapters. Henry Neufeld tried at least once per year to escape all his numerous obligations in taking a summer holiday in Klosters, a small mountain village in Eastern Switzerland, where Prof. Rutishauser met him for the first time.

Professor Neufeld believed that the conquest of one of the greatest enemies of human life, heart disease, could be achieved through the common striving and determination of doctors, laymen, and governments working together in freedom, friendship, and mutual understanding. Unfortunately, this man of great academic and personal distinction, excellent clinician and outstanding humanitarian and leader, died suddenly in December 1986.

The inauguration of the journal underlines ISCP’s commitment to disseminating research and advancements in the field of cardiovascular pharmacotherapy.

The second congress of ISCP was organized by Prof. Elliot Rapaport and took place in San Francisco in October 1987. It brought clinical cardiovascular pharmacotherapy successfully to the forefront together with a number of important other topics (hypertension, heart failure, arrhythmias, etc.).

The first ordinary General Assembly of ISCP took place during the San Francisco symposium, on October 20, 1987. At that time the society counted 113 members, from 29 different countries. A new Executive Board was elected for a period of two years: W. Rutishauser, Geneva, as President, S. Taylor, Leeds, as Vice-President, A. Battler, Tel Aviv, as Scientific Secretary, C. Kawai, Kyoto, E. Rapaport, San Francisco, J. Ross. Jr., San Diego, as other members of the Board, A. Von Albertini, Zurich, as Executive Secretary, and P. Ammon, Zurich, as Auditor. It was decided to hold the next membership assembly in Kyoto in October 1989, during the 3rd Cardiovascular Pharmacology International Symposium organized by Chuichi. Kawai.

A main concern of the newly elected President Rutishauser and the board was to increase the membership in order that our Society can grow and flourish. The aim was particularly to attract young cardiologists. Therefore we considered funding research training of promising clinical investigators during a limited period. Another opportunity would be by combining membership in the Society (which includes subscription to the journal “Cardiovascular Drugs and Pharmacotherapy”) with a considerable reduction of registration fee at future congresses. At the 15th International Congress of Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy in Beijing in October 2009 ISCP members have however only a 25% reduction on registration fees.

Even though our Society had already been founded in 1983 in Zurich by the late Professor Henry Neufeld (in the presence of Dr. Battler and with Dr. von Albertini as Executive Secretary), due to the untimely death of the founder the Society has only recently found a “regular rhythm.”

The first general assembly of ISCP took place on 29 October 1987 in San Francisco, and the second was held recently, on 30 August 1988, in Vienna. Dr. Neufeld appointed Dr. Taylor and myself in 1985 and in 1986 Drs. Kawai and Ross Jr. as members of the Board of this Society. During the general assembly in San Francisco the new Board as it now stands today was elected with the addition of Dr. Rapoport and with Dr. Opie as Honorary Member.

In April 1985, the First Symposium on Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy took place in Geneva with Professor Henry Neufeld as President, and was a great success. In October 1987, the second meeting was organized by Dr. Rapoport in San Francisco and successfully brought the cardiovascular pharmacology to the forefront as well as adding a number of important Symposia. In addition Dr. Battler was elected to the position of Scientific Secretary. The abstracts of this meeting were published in the Journal of this Society, Cardiovascular Drugs & Therapy (Vol. 1, issue 3).

The official Journal sponsored by our Society, Cardiovascular Drugs & Therapy, published its first volume in 1987. Initially Drs. Opie and Neufeld were the Co-Editors but upon the death of Dr. Neufeld, Dr. Elliot Rapoport was elected to be Co-Editor. There are now six annual issues of considerable interest for physicians and cardiologists working in the medical field of cardiovascular therapy. Besides editorial comments on controversial subjects, exhaustive review articles, and Symposia, there are many new articles in the general area of cardiovascular drugs and therapy. Approximately two-thirds of the articles are clinically oriented and approximately one-third towards basic experimental pharmacology.

To promote international exchange of information among physicians, cardiologists, and pharmacologists engaged in the field of cardiovascular therapy, the Society has a triad of objectives: (1) the regular Con-gresses and Symposia held every two years at an important international center, (2) the continued activity presented by publication of the Journal which guarantees the promotion of international exchange of information, as laid down in our Constitution, and (3) the continuation of the Society itself.

So that our Society can grow and flourish, we have to increase our membership, and we particularly aim at attracting young cardiologists who are eager to promote these goals. For the future, we are considering, possibly with pharmaceutical support, to fund young investigators for periods of clinical and basic training and research, and to receive membership of our Society.

There is much opportunity available at the next Congress in Kyoto. By combining registration for the Congress with membership in the Society (which includes the subscription to Cardiovascular Drugs & Therapy) there is a considerable reduction in the actual registration fee required for the Kyoto Congress. We hope that many new members, kindly offered by Dr. Kawai, will increase the active membership in our Society.

The third cardiovascular pharmacotherapy international symposium took place in the Kyoto International Conference Hall from October 15-19, 1989 in Kyoto, Japan. The scientific program consisted of plenary sessions, symposia and free papers.

The following topics were taken up:

• Thrombolysis: new agents and concepts.
• Heart failure therapy.
• Choice of antihypertensive drugs.
• Newer approaches for management of cardiac arrhythmias.
• Treatment of cardiomyopathies.
• Prostaglandins and leucotriens.
• Lipid-lowering drugs.
• Atrial natriuretic factor.
• Drugs and genetic engineering.
• Adrenergic receptors.
• Use of cardiovascular drugs in the elderly.
• New inotropic agents.
• Cytokines and cardiovascular system.
• Calcium currents in vascular and myocardial tissue.
• Drug effects on vascular smooth muscle.
• Endothel and cardiovascular agents.
• Drug tolerance and interaction.
• Cardiac transplantation and its management.
• Superoxide dismutase and related substances.

Prof. C. Kawai and his scientific secretary, Dr. H. Kambara, both from the 3rd Division, Department of Internal Medicine of the Kyoto University Hospital, did an outstanding job by preparation and realization of the large above-mentioned program.

At the general opening session the ISCP President, Prof. Rutishauser, congratulates them wholeheartedly. Then he could open with charming assistance a barrel of the Japanese national drink sake and bring a toast to all participants.

The fourth cardiovascular pharmacotherapy symposium took place in Palexpo Geneva, the small metropolis at the end of the lake, from April 21 to 25, 1991, the year of the 700th anniversary of the origin of the Swiss Confederation.

The President of the International Society of Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy and Chairman of the Satellites, Stanley H. Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., England could count on a potent Organizing Committee, consisting of A. Battler, Israel, F. Burkart, Switzerland, P. Dayer, Switzerland, M. Mancini, Italy, M. Vallotton, Switzerland, and a large Advisory Board under the chairmanship of W. Rutishauser.

About 540 individual presentations had been grouped into Free Communication Sessions, Mini Symposia and Poster Sessions. The backbones of the congress were besides the Henry Neufeld Lecture given by Alex Battler. Five State-of-the-Art Lectures, each with 3 speakers, 6 Controversies and no less than 16 Satellite Sessions. The program had to be conceived into up to 6 parallel sessions and there was again a very large attendance. The accompanying persons program and the post congress tours were also widely solicited.

The fifth International Symposium was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 16-20, 1993.

The chairman of the congress was Prof. Jay N. Cohn. The President of ISCP and Chairman of the Satellites, Stanley H. Taylor, M.D., Ph.D. England, could count on a potent Organizing Committee, consisting of A. Battler, Israel, F. Burkart, Switzerland, P. Dayer, Switzerland, M. Mancini, Italy, M. Vallotton, Switzerland, and a large Advisory Board under my chairmanship.

The program committee had planned an optimally structured program with the newest approaches of therapy in hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart failure, ischemic syndromes and cardiac arrhythmias. In addition 9 satellite symposia were organized in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies.

While in the first 10 years the symposia of ISCP were biennial and toured around the world in the sequence Europe, Interamerican und Asian-Pacific area, this order (a copy of the WHF) was not retained later. Also the positive financial outcome of 100 ‘000-150’ 000 CHF from each of the first 4 symposia for our Society could not be obtained regularly afterwards.

Focused event on ACE inhibition in Versailles.

Held in Sydney, continuing ISCP’s global congress series.

Took place in Jerusalem.

Took place in Jerusalem.

Montreal hosted the congress.

Barcelona was the location for this event.

ISCP’s conference in Hong Kong.

Antalya hosted the congress.

Took place in Beijing.

Held in Vina del Mar, Chile.

Bucharest hosted this congress.

Rome was the venue for the congress.

Adelaide hosted the event.

Held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Held in Beijing.

Barcelona hosted the meeting.

Took place in Kyoto.

Lugano was the location for the meeting.

Scheduled to be held in the USA but cancelled due to the strict restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic.

Singapore hosted the virtual meeting.

Bucharest hosted the hybrid meeting.

Hosted in Seoul, South Korea, this meeting continued the tradition of annual scientific gatherings, fostering global discourse in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy.

The 29th ISCP Annual Scientific Meeting took place on the 1st and 2nd of November 2024 at the Hotel Renaissance in São Paulo, Brazil, marking the first time this prestigious event was held in the country. Organized in collaboration with the Brazilian Society of Clinical Medicine – São Paulo Region, the meeting brought together healthcare professionals specializing in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy. With a focus on topics such as coronary disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, diabetes, cardio-oncology, and drug interactions, the event showcased groundbreaking updates and innovative treatments. Attendees benefited from exceptional educational content delivered by renowned global experts, reinforcing the meeting’s reputation as a key platform for advancing cardiovascular care.