National Mountain Medicine Societies

Upcoming Conferences

American Physiological Society (Experimental Biology)
The annual Experimental Biology meeting features the latest advances in physiology with a wide range of topics of interest to High Altitude Medicine and Biology readers. This is the premiere physiology meeting in the US. In 2009, Experimental Biology will be held in New Orleans.

American Academy of Neurology
The AAN Annual Meeting, one of the world's largest gatherings of neurology professionals, brings together more than 10,000 neurologists and neuroscientists to share groundbreaking research and participate in a comprehensive curriculum-based educational program. The 61st annual meeting will be held in Seattle, Washington.

American College of Sports Medicine
You will find a great deal of integrative physiology at the annual American College of Sports Medicine meeting. This seems to be one of the more active forums for exercise-altitude interactions, and a host of other topics of interest to high altitude physiologists. The next annual meeting will be held in Seattle, Washington.

14th International Biochemistry of Exercise Conference
The next triennial IBEC conference topic will be Muscles as Molecular and Metabolic Machines. The conference will be held at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

European College of Sport Science 2009
The 14th Annual Congress program will feature theoretical, applied and cross-diosciplinary sport studies as well as research findings based on the natural, behavioral, social and human scientific disciplines. The conference will be held in Oslo, Norway.

International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue 2009
The International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT) is an interdisciplinary society comprising about 250 members worldwide. Its purpose is to further the understanding of all aspects of the processes involved in the transport of oxygen from the air to its ultimate consumption in the cells of the various organs of the body. The annual meeting brings together scientists, engineers, clinicians and mathematicians in a unique international forum for the exchange of information and knowledge, the updating of participants on latest developments and techniques, and the discussion of controversial issues within the field of oxygen transport to tissue. ISOTT2009 will be held in Cleveland, Ohio.

2nd International Congress of Respiratory Science (ICRS)
The second ICRS conference will focus on an integrative perspective of all aspects of respiration, incorporating genetics, cell biology, zoology, botany, medicine and other fields. The congress will be held in Bonn/Bad Honnef, Germany.

ExpedMed 2009
The Expedition Medicine National Conference provides an excellent educational opportunity for medical professionals interested in practicing in remote or extreme environments, or consulting on patients returning from these locations. ExpedMed 2009 will be held in Washington, DC.

European Federation of Neurological Sciences 2009
The 13th Congress of the European Federation of Neurological Societies will be held in Florence, Italy.

European Respiratory Society 2009
The ERS Congress, the largest in pulmonary medicine worldwide, provides a unique forum where scientists  and medical professionals from around the world have the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas and information in the field of respiratory medicine. The Scientific Program of the ERS Congress aims to provide a balance between clinical education and the latest scientific developments. The congress will be held in Vienna, Austria.

Neuroscience 2009
For people interested in brain-hypoxia interactions, the Society for Neuroscience is the world’s largest organization of scientists and physicians dedicated to understanding the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. Their 39th annual meeting, considered the most important annual forum for the neuroscience research community, will be held in Chicago.

19th World Congress of Neurology
The World Congress of Neurology has been the world’s largest scientific event in Neurology for over half a century. Doctors from various disciplines, together with neuroscientists, have collaborated in the organization of the best academic curriculum at preceding congresses and have contributed greatly to the worldwide neuroscience community. The next WCN will be held in Bangkok.

Society for Free Radical Biology & Medicine
The Society for Free Radical Biology & Medicine (formerly The Oxygen Society) was established in response to a growing recognition of the "dark side" of oxygen as a major issue for the life sciences. According to the "Oxygen Paradox," oxygen is both necessary for aerobic life and toxic to all life forms. This group is concerned with the role played by free radicals and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in disease, which is also a growing area of interest in altitude illness research. SFRBM'S 16th Annual Meeting is in San Francisco, California.

ASTMH 58th Annual Meeting
The 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene will be in Washington, DC.

Bibliography of High Altitude Medicine and Physiology

The Bibliography of High Altitude Medicine and Physiology (BHAMP) is online at a new web site, with a faster search engine. The site is still sponsored by the National Radioastronomy Laboratory.

 As before, you can search to your heart's content, but you cannot download references. For full functionality you must purchase the BHAMP ($75 US + shipping and handling). It comes in formats compatible with all word processors, but for database functionality you will need one of the popular bibliography management packages (EndNote, Reference Manager, Procite can all import the BHAMP). BHAMP is provided on one CD in several formats. The CD version now includes bonus libraries with all citations from Index Medicus containing the keysords altitude, hypoxia and mountain. On special request, CDs can be provided for Macintosh computer systems.

Orders to: BHAMP, PO Box 343, Montezuma, NM 87731 USA. Enquiries to rroach@hypoxia.net.

High Altitude Medicine & Biology

Sample & subscription info for the medical journal; available in paper and online formats. (You get both the print journal and full online access as a member of the ISMM)

emedicine online

A free, up-to-date online Emergency Medicine textbook with chapters on altitude illness (divided into Cerebral Syndromes, and Pulmonary Syndromes) - look in the Emergency Medicine text, under Environmental Emergencies.

CIWEC Clinic Travel Medicine Center

Kathmandu - Dr. David Shlim, longtime resident of Kathmandu has some great info here on altitude illness and travellers' diarrhea.

Birmingham Medical Research Expeditionary Society

A group of medical scientists actively studying the effects of altitude and the causes and management of acute mountain sickness.

Himalayan Rescue Association

An organization based in Kathmandu, dedicated to preventing deaths from altitude illness.

Medex and Medical Expeditions

Medical Expeditions is a research charity dedicated to investigating the mechanisms of altitude related illness.

Medex is a club that provides support for the charitable works of Medical Expeditions. Membership of Medex is open to all.

So far two major research expeditions have been undertaken. Everest in 1994 and Kangchenjunga in 1998. The next major expedition is planned to visit the Makalu area in Spring 2003.

Travel Health Online

Good information for the general public on health aspects of travel, including altitude illness, infectious diseases, vaccines, as well as extensive country-specific information on health and safety issues.

The British Travel Health Association

Traveldoctor.info

An international travel health web site with a straightforward vaccination calculator, and general information about staying healthy while travelling.

International Porter Protection Group

IPPG's aim is to improve health and safety for the trekking porter at work in the mountains and reduce the incidence of avoidable illness injury and death. This is done by raising awareness of the issue among trekking and travel companies, leaders, sirdars, and trekkers.

Physiology Society

Access to Journal of Physiology from 1965 to present; need not be a member.

Journal of Exercise Physiology Online

The Journal of Exercise Physiology Online, published by the American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP), is a professional peer reviewed Internet-based journal devoted to original research in exercise physiology. There are frequent contributions relating to altitude issues; current and past issues are freely accessible.

The Society For Human Performance In Extreme Environments

The mission of the Society for Human Performance in Extreme Environments is to lower the boundaries between scientific disciplines and encourage collaboration and discovery concerning activities in environments in which humankind is not naturally suited to endure.

UIAA
Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme
The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation

The UIAA is the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation. With over 90 member Associations in 62 countries, the UIAA represents several million mountaineers, climbers, hill walkers, trekkers, skiers and many others interested in visiting, climbing and protecting the mountain environment wherever they are in the world.

While not strictly a mountain medicine site, the UIAA web site has consensus statements covering an extensive list of medical topics. These are written at a level of detail appropriate for physicians, interested non-medical persons, and expedition organizers. Topics include field treatment of AMS/HACE/HAPE, portable hyperbaric chambers, traveler’s diarrhea, children at altitude, the effect of extremes of temperature on drugs, women at altitude, persons with pre-existing conditions going to altitude, and first-aid kit recommendations, among others.

Interested physicians can obtain information on obtaining a Diploma in Mountain Medicine by clicking on the "Mountain Medicine" link.

ICAR-MEDCOM
International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine

The International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine ICAR MEDCOM was founded in 1948 by the Alpine countries as a sub-commission of the International Commission for Mountain Rescue with the aim of improving medical treatment of casualties in the mountains.

The main goal of the Commission is the elaboration of recommendations and guidelines dealing with scientific and practical aspects of mountain rescue and emergency treatment of casualties in mountainous terrain. Moreover, preventive recommendations for mountaineers are worked out in collaboration with the Medical Commission of UIAA (The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation).

Capanna Margherita, 4556 m

Perched on the Punta Gnifetti of the Monta Rosa in Italy, this refuge dates back to the 1890s but is still extensively used by climbers and researchers. No web site, but you can see photos at the web site above.

Observatoire Vallot, 4350 m

This French laboratory on Mont Blanc also dates back to the late 1800s; operated by Le Service Médical de l'Ecole Nationale de Ski et d'Alpinisme (ENSA).

Jungfraujoch Laboratory, 3500 m

For more than 60 years the Research Station at Jungfraujoch has provided the ideal surrounding for scientific research at high altitudes. The station is equipped to meet todays needs for research in the newest environmental sciences as well as in many other traditional fields. Accessed by cog railway from Interlaken; located in a spectacular setting in the Swiss Alps.

White Mountain Research Station
4343 m, 3800 m, 3094 m, and 1250 m

The White Mountain Research Station (WMRS) is a multi-campus research unit of the University of California. WMRS was established in 1950 to provide laboratory, teaching, and housing facilities for researchers doing field work in the Eastern Sierra. While WMRS was originally used for research in high-elevation physiology, it is now used also by scientists in such diverse fields as archaeology, astronomy, atmospheric science, ecology, geology, plant biology, and zoology.

Four facilities are available:

1. the Owens Valley Lab, in Bishop, CA (1250 m)
2. the Crooked Creek facility (3094 m) in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Research Area
3. the Barcroft facility (3800 m); This is the fourth-highest high-elevation research facility in North America
4. the Summit facility (4343 m); This is the highest high-elevation research facility in North America

Pikes Peak Laboratory, 4300 m

Located on the summit of Pikes Peak, Colorado, USA; operated by the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, Massachusetts.

South America

Instituto Investigaciones de la Altura, Cerro de Pasco, 4340 m

Operated by the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, this laboratory is in a high Peruvian mining town.

Laboratorio Fisica Cosmica Chacaltaya, 5200 m

Operated by the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia, this laboratory is 30 km by road from La Paz, Bolivia; it can be used by arrangement though it was not designed for biological research.

Chajnantor Site, North Chile, 5050 m

This high plateau is the site of several current and planned telescopes; it is accessible by road.

Pyramid Laboratory, 5050 m

In 1990, following an agreement with the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (RONAST), the Italian National Research Center (CNR) installed a scientific laboratory at 5,050 m altitude. This laboratory, immediately named the "Piramide" due to its shape, is located in one of the highest inhabited places in the world: the Khumbu valley, at the foot of Mount Everest. It allows Italian and foreign research institutes to plan and carry out research programs previously difficult or impossible due to lack of facilities.

Pheriche Hospital, 4250 m

Run by the Himalaya Rescue Association, the facilities have been recently upgraded to provide water, power, and heat, with space added to house persons interested in doing high altitude research projects.

INEFC-UB Hypobaria Service

The University of Barcelona has a hypobaric chamber with a capacity of eight people, available for research as well as intermittant hypoxic training, acclimatization, and studying an individual for tolerance to hypoxia. The maximal limit for simulated altitude is set at 6,000m.

Dutch Altitude Chamber

The Netherlands Aeromedical Institute has high altitude chambers that can be made available for medical research; contact Robert A. Roe, Director, Netherlands Aeromedical Institute.

High Altitude Sports Training Complex

Northern Arizona University coordinates a variety of high-altitude training camps in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA for elite-level amateur and professional athletes.

Chinook Medical Gear

Chinook is the supplier for the Gamow Bag®, and also carries portable pulse oximeters, has a one-of-a-kind catalog section on High Altitude Medicine Gear and Oxygen, and carries a variety of other wilderness-related medical supplies.

TrekSafe

Supplier for the Portable Altitue Chamber (PAC), an Australian portable hyperbaric chamber.

CERTEC Caisson

Manufacturers of the CERTEC portable hyperbaric chamber; information available in both French and English.

RES-Q Products

Suppliers of hypothermia technology/equipment.