President Peretz Lavie received his formal training in Sleep research and Sleep medicine at the University of Florida and at the University of California San Diego, and was a visiting professor at Harvard University in Boston. In 1975 he joined the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, where he founded the Sleep Research Laboratory and the Canter for Sleep Medicine. He was the Dean of Medicine (1993-1999) and Vice President for Resource Development and External Relations (2001-2008) and in 2009 was elected for a 4-year term as the President of the Technion and in 2013 was re-elected for 4 more years.
On his return to Israel in 1975, Lavie joined the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, where he set up a sleep research laboratory,[3] which was then the first laboratory to diagnose sleep disorders. Now called the Canter for Sleep Medicine,[4] it currently has four branches in Israeli hospitals. Through these research facilities, over 120,000 people have been tested.[5] In 1997, Professor Lavie initiated a similar canter in the affiliated hospitals of Harvard University in the USA. In addition to clinical services, the canter established companies that manufacture medical equipment for sleep testing.[6]Among these is Itamar Medical – that manufactures equipment for home diagnosis of sleep disorder, identifying people who are at high risk for heart disease, and SLP that manufactures a variety of sensors for sleep laboratories.
Professor Peretz Lavie is considered one of the founders of sleep medicine. He published more than 400 scientific articles and eight books in the field of sleep research and sleep disorders. His book “The Enchanted World of Sleep” has been translated into 15 languages. His research has won many prizes, including the Elkeles Prize from the Keren Kayemet LeIsrael for the best medical scientist (2001), the University of Pisa Sleep Award to Best Sleep Researcher in Europe (2004), the American Society of Sleep Research William Gruen Prize for innovative research (2006), and the EMET prize in medicine (2006), the most prestigious prize for academic achievements in Israel. He was the founder and co-founder of 5 companies that develop and produce medical devices for sleep medicine and cardiology and provide diagnostic services.