The British Microcirculation Society was founded in July 1963 "to advance the study of circulation of the blood and other tissue fluids especially, though not exclusively, in the small vessels and of matters relating thereto". The membership of more than 200 is drawn largely from the medical sciences - anatomy, biophysics, pathology, pharmacology, physiology and clinical medicine and surgery - but the pharmaceutical industry and the veterinary and physical sciences are also represented. This spectrum of interests is one of the strengths of the Society and enlivens discussion at its meetings. The Society holds a scientific meeting and AGM in the Spring of each year and the proceedings are published in the Journal of Vascular Research Additionally, it contributes symposia to International and European Microcirculation Congresses which are held in the Summer biennially. It also works to advance the careers of researchers in the microcirculation by providing grants for attendance at meetings and visits to laboratories for the purpose of developing new techniques.
The British Microcirculation Society maintains close links with other national societies in Europe and with the European Society for Microcirculation and acted as hosts and organisers of the 4th, 7th and 17th Conferences of the European Society in Cambridge in 1966, in Aberdeen in 1972, and in London in 1992 and the Third World Congress for Microcirculation in Oxford in 1984. Members are kept informed of microcirculation events in both the European and international context, for example the next European meeting in Stockholm in 2000 and the International conference in Australia in 2001. The Society will again be the host of the European Society Meeting in 2002
