History of Medical Mycology in Israel (En)

No exact moment in time can be fixed for the start of Medical Mycology in Israel, since it grew as a side branch at the Department of Dermatology of the Hadassa Hospital in Jerusalem.

It was mainly the dedicated work of Dr. F. Raubitschek, a dermatologist from Prague, who joined the Department in 1942, with whom the beginning can be associated.

At the beginning there were just KOH scrapings from patients, to which later cultures of isolated fungi were added. He established Medical Mycology as a proper unit in which diagnostic work and research were performed only after 1952, upon his return from a two – year research and study period in the US.

During the following years Medical Mycology spread to other hospitals and laboratories, mainly as a result of lectures and courses that he gave. The first generation of Medical Mycologists in Israel were all his students.

It can be said that from the 1970s and on Medical Mycology in Israel became a recognized discipline in its own right. In addition to diagnostic services in clinical laboratories dealing with dermatology, beginnings of diagnostic services for deep-mycoses have been initiated, and Medical Mycology was introduced into the teaching curricula of some of the Universities. The most prominent individuals associated with this period and who were instrumental to these developments were Dr. Beemer, a pathologist from South Africa with vast experience in pathology of mycoses and his associate Prof. Kuttin, a veterinarian with interest in Medical Mycology.

Dr. Beemer was one of the first teachers of Medical Mycology and a number of today active mycologists were among his students. A distinctive characteristic of Dr. Beemer was his humble behavior which was in contrast to the vast body of knowledge that he possessed, a feature recognized by his colleagues, as expressed in naming a fungus Trichosporon beemeri.

Prof. Kuttin, employed at the Israel Institute for Biological Research, was an initiator and among the founders of the Israel Society for Medical Mycology (ISMM) in 1971. He organized an "OHOLO" Symposium in Israel on Medical Mycology in 1976, in which many internationally famous mycologists participated. A peak in Prof. Kuttin's activity is certainly the organization of the 7^th ISHAM Congress in Israel in 1979. This congress was remembered for a long time in the Medical Mycology community as a most successful event.

Today Medical Mycology in Israel covers several areas of activity:

Clinical Diagnosis: Diagnostic services for diagnosis of both superficial and deep-seated mycoses are provided by laboratories devoted to Medical Mycology in most of the major Medical Centers including some outpatient clinics and the Kimron Veterinary Institute. Some rare fungal pathogens have been isolated and identified.

Teaching: Medical Mycology is taught in all four Medical Schools and in the School of Veterinary Medicine as a separate course or as part of the Microbiology curriculum. In addition, it is also taught to science graduate students and students carry out research projects related to topics of Medical Mycology under the supervision of Faculty members at the Universities.

Research: Both basic and applied research on various subjects is being performed. Research subjects include investigations involving among others, various aspects of candidiasis, cryptococcosis, dermatophytosis and aspergillosis, with emphasis on host-pathogen interactions, pathogenesis and antifungals.

Professional Organization: Medical mycologists in Israel are members of the Israel Society for Medical Mycology (ISMM), information about which may be found here.