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INFORMATION ON THE 6th EFCC SYMPOSIUM FOR BALKAN REGION AND THE 17th SERBIAN CONGRESS OF MEDICAL BIOCHEMISTRY AND LABORATORY MEDICINE

By Professor Dr. Nada Majkic-Singh
President of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia
and the Scientific Committees of the Congress and Symposium

From the 4th till the 9th of October 2010, Belgrade was the host of the 17th Congress of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine with international participation organized by the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia and the Institute of Medical Biochemistry of the Clinical Centre of Serbia. As part of the Congress, on the 7th of October 2010, the 6th EFCC Symposium for the Balkan Region took place, organized separately under the title Implementing Laboratory Automation, Quality and Efficiency. Symposium coordinators
were Professor Nada Majkić-Singh on behalf of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia and Professor Victor Blaton, Former EFCC President, on behalf of the European Federation for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. The Congress and Szmposium were held under the auspices of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC), European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFCC) and the Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation (BCLF), as well as the
Ministry of Science of the Republic of Serbia.

During the Opening ceremony, Professor Victor Blaton received an Honorary Diploma from the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia, the highest recognition awarded by the Society, for his contribution to the development of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine in Serbia and the Balkan region and for promoting these disciplines in Serbia and the global professional community.

Celebration of the 55th jubilee anniversary of the founding of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia coincided with the Congress. On this occasion, Professor Nada Majkić-Singh evoked the achievements and activities of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia since its establishment up to this day, by presenting the Historical Background, Aims of the Society, Society Organization, and Professional, Publishing, Congressional and other Activities.

Professor David Goldberg from Canada gave the Opening lecture on "Wine and Health: A Paradigm for Alcohol and Antioxidants" explaining the relative contributions of ethanol and the polyphenolic antioxidants of red wine by considering their potential to inhibit atherogenesis ant the mechanisms involved. Other plenary sections of the 17th Congress of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine were dedicated to the latest findings on biochemical markers for various diseases and states and their application, primarily the
Detection and Clinical Significance of Free Radicals in Circulation describing the complexity of free radical metabolism in human erythrocytes (M. Spasić), the diagnostic and therapeutic significance of oxidative stress parameters in children (M. Bajčetić) and the application of electron paramagnetic resonance as a powerful tool of medical biochemistry in discovering mechanisms of disease and treatment prospects (I. Spasojević).
The Thyroid Disease Diagnostics section included the following lectures: "Diagnosis of Thyroid Disease" (M. Žarković), "Genetics of Thyroid Cancer" (S. Damjanović),

"Measuring Thyroglobulin Concentrations in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma" (S. Savin) and "The Importance of Hormones and Proteins Determination in the Material Obtained by Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy" (B. Trbojević).

Latest Knowledge about the "Clinical Value of Lipopolysaccharide-Binding Protein in Infection and Sepsis" (D. Schmidt), "The ESR Test: An Old Test with New Concepts" (M. Plebani and E. Piva), "D-Dimer in the Management of Venous Thromboembolism" (G. Le Gal) and "Point-of-Care D-Dimer Testing" (J. Antović), "Sensitive Cardiac Troponin Assays: Myth and Magic or A Practical Way Forward?" (D. Gaze) and "Diagnostic and Prognostic Information Provided by a High Sensitivity Assay for Cardiac Troponin T" (J. Jarausch) were all presented in the section New Biochemical Markers. The Biochemical Markers of Kidney Diseases section was devoted to "Serum and Urinary Biomarkers Determination" (V. Ležajić), "Cardiovascular Biomarkers in Chronic Kidney Disease" (M. Đerić), "Urinary NGAL as a Novel Biomarker for the Early Detection of Acute Kidney Injury" (KM Schmidt-Ott) and the "Importance of KIM-1 Determination in Tissue and Urine of Patients with Different Kidney Diseases" (S. Simić-Ogrizović). Very important sections dealt with Protein Analysis at the Molecular Level: from fundamental research to the application in medicine, providing insights into "Individualized Therapy and Role of Thiopurine S-Methyltransferase Protein and Genetic Variants" (S. Pavlović), "A Possible Role of MARP Protein Family in Molecular Mechanism of Tumorogenesis", and the "Role of rRNA Methyltransferases in Resistance to Antibiotics". The Significance of Genetic Polymorphism as a Marker for Proneness to Disease Formation (I. Novaković), e.g. in relation to the "Genetic Epidemiologic Approach" (T. Pekmezović), "Genetic Predisposition to Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus" (K. Stankov) and "The Role of GSTM1 Polymorphism in Patients with Renal and Urinary Bladder Tumors" (T. Simić) were also discussed. In the course of the 6th EFCC Symposium for Balkan Region prominent foreign and local experts introduced to the participants the means for achieving full automation and laboratory consolidation with the goal of adhering to the philosophy of Lean and Six Sigma laboratory efficiency. Experts from Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium revealed their experiences along with distinguished local scientists. The following lectures were presented:"Implementing Laboratory Automation, Quality and Efficiency" (Svetlana Ignjatović and Nada Majkic-Singh), "Medical Errors: Preanalytical Issue in Patient Safety" (Mario Plebani), "Preanalytical Workstation as a Tool for Reducing Laboratory Errors" (Giorgio Da Rin), "Progressive Automation – the Solution of Choice for Improving Lab Efficiency" (Jan Michel Valid), "Centralization, Consolidation and Automation in a Local Hospital Network" (Gerd Hafner), "Concepts for Lean Laboratory Organization" (Gabriele Halwachs-Baumann) and "Automation, Lean, Six Sigma – Synergy in Tactics to Improve Lab Efficiency" (Davide Villa), "Concepts for an In vitro Diagnostic Organization: Consulting Services to Develop Customized Economical and High Quality In Vitro Diagnostic Solutions" (Gerhard Wirl) and "Lean and Six Sigma Sample Analysis Process in a Microbiology Laboratory" (Vojislav Stoiljković).

The topics selected covered in a multidisciplinary fashion the field of laboratory medicine and other medical sciences. A number of experts in various areas actively took part by contributing their work, which further accentuated the multidisciplinary character of the Congress. Like in previous years, this Congress has, therefore, made it possible for the latest scientific and expert results to be presented to clinical chemists from Serbia and the Balkan region and has served as a place for exchanging experiences in order to promote
contemporary laboratory practice. During the closing ceremony, Professor David Goldberg gave a very interesting and important lecture entitled "Science at the Crossroads: Fact or Fiction?" in which he examined the direction contemporary science took a while ago and offered some valuable advice.

Round table discussions on the topics presented served as the basis for reaching Conclusions and Guidelines in this area of laboratory medicine, with the aim of achieving the best possible treatment results for the benefit of patients. A permanent exhibition of equipment and reagents was on display during the Congress and Symposium, and many practical workshops were organized by various companies.

Organization of the National 17th Serbian Congress of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine and 6th EFCC Symposium for the Balkan region was the result of engagement and effort by the coordinators and all members of the Scientific and Organizing Committees. More than 450 participants from Serbia and other Balkan countries were actively engaged in the Congress and Symposium, and we can only hope that the program we had to offer met their expectations and that through such an exchange of experiences they were able to enrich their knowledge, which will doubtlessly be useful in everyday laboratory practice. We also sincerely hope that Belgrade, our ancient city upon two rivers, was recognized as a kind and interesting host that the Congress participants will carry in their hearts for a long time.

All lectures are published in the national journal of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia – Journal of Medical Biochemistry 2010; 29: 131–230, and 29: 231–492 (www.versita.com).

Professor Victor Blaton reciving the Honorary Diploma from Professor Nada Majkić-Singh,
president of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia

The Participants on 6th EFCC Symposium for Balkan Region, from left to right: S. Ignjatović,
V. Blaton, E. Piva, G. Da Rin, J-M Valid, N. Majkić-Singh

THE 5th EFCC SYMPOSIUM FOR BALKAN REGION

Contributed by Prof. Dr. Nada Majkic-Singh, President of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia

The Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia and the Institute of Medical Biochemistry of the Clinical Centre of Serbia jointly organized the Fifth EFCC Symposium for the Balkan Region entitled “Proteins: from electrophoresis to proteomics” in Belgrade, from October 8-19, 2009. The Symposium was organized under the auspices of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC), European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFCC) and the Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation (BCLF), as well as under the Ministry of Science of the Republic of Serbia. The Society, as the member of IFCC and EFCC, greatly appreciates the role it has in the continuing development of our discipline according to the IFCC mission and the Strategic plan. The symposium coordinators were Prof. Dr Nada Majkić-Singh, Chair of the Meeting, and Professor Victor Blaton, EFCC Past President.

The idea of this EFCC Symposium was to show how the continuum of different electrophoretic techniques for protein profiling can contribute to proteomics by allowing the detection and measurement of a wide array of proteins, and the definition of their structures and functions.

The proteome is defined as the entire array of proteins, including their post-translational modifications, produced by an organism or system. Thus the proteome will vary with time and physiological or pathological events, or stresses, that a cell or organism undergoes. Proteome analysis is emerging as a potentially powerful tool to decipher pathophysiological processes, resulting in the establishment of the field of clinical proteomics. One of the main goals of clinical proteomics is to discover biomarkers for diseases in biological fluids and tissues. The complexity of the proteome requires a separation step by different electrophoretic techniques before the analysis by mass spectrometry.

The 1st part of the 5th Symposium covered the clinical utility of serum protein electrophoresis (Xavier Bossuyt, Belgium), agarose gel electrophoresis and capillary electrophoresis in clinical chemistry (Jean-Francois Giot, France), the use of lab-on-chip electrophoresis and other methods in protein profiling (Olgica Trenčevska, Macedonia), MADGE-Microplate array diagonal gel electrophoresis (Sanja Stanković, Serbia), isoelectrofocusing and PCR amplification-reverse hybridization assay in evaluation of alfa-1-antitrypsin deficiency (Anđelo Beletić, Serbia) and application of proteomics techniques in biomarker discovery (Antonia Vlahou, Greece).

The 2nd part of Symposium covered the urinary proteome analysis using capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry as a powerful tool in clinical diagnosis, prognosis and therapy evaluation (Harald Mischak, Germany), glucocorticoid receptors in health and disease (Gordana Matić, Serbia) and molecular diagnosis of phenylketonuria: from detective protein to disease-causing gene mutation (Sonja Pavlović, Serbia).

The following lectures covered experiences in clinical protein arrays: biochip cardiac array technology (Grazyna Sypniewska, Poland), cytokine and growth factor array (Hans J. van Pelt, The Netherlands), colorectal cancer array – simultaneous analysis of DNA alternations with biochip array technology (Andrew Cartwright, UK) and multiparameter testing of colorectal cancer (Bernhard Risse). Jim Thorn (United Kingdom) presented the use of the Analis CDT assay for screening for alcohol abuse.

The organization of the 5th EFCC Symposium for Balkan Region was the result of work and effort of coordinators and of the Organizational Committees. More then 300 participants from Serbia and Balkan counutries participated actively in the Symposium. During the Symposium a permanent exibition of equipment and reagents organized by different companies has been display.

All lectures are published in Journal of Medical Biochemistry 2009; 28: 221-326 (www.versita.com) the National Journal of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia.

Lecturers of the 5th Symposium for Balkan Region(From left to right): Anđelo Beletić, Olgica Trenčevska, Sanja Stanković, Nada Majkić-Singh, Antonia Vlahou, Victor Blaton, Andrew Cartwright, Svetlana Ignjatović, Jim Thorn, Xavier Bossuyt

INFORMATION ON THE 16th CONGRESS OF MEDICAL BIOCHEMISTS OF SERBIA
AND THE 4TH EFCC SYMPOSIUM FOR BALKAN REGION

By Professor Dr. Nada Majkic-Singh
President of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia
And the Scientific Committees of the Congress and Symposium

The 16th Congress of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine with international participation have been organized by the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia and the Institute of Medical Biochemistry of the Clinical Centre of Serbia. The Congress was organized under the auspices of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC), European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFCC) and the Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation (BCLF), as well as the Ministry of Science of the Republic of Serbia. As part of the Congress, on the 19th and 20th of June 2008 the 4th EFCC Symposium for the Balkan Region entitled The Impact of the Preanalytical Phase on the Quality of Laboratory Results was held.

Photo: Professor Dr. Nada Majkic-Singh

Photo (legend): Lecturers of 4th EFCC Symposium for Balkan Region
From left to right: N. Majkić-Singh, A. Stanković, G. Lipi, L. Drago, S. Ignjatović,
C. Mattiuzzi, S. Green and G.L. Salvagno

The organization of the Congress was the result of work and effort of all the members of the Scientific and Organizational Committees, comprised of distinguished local experts in this area. More than 400 participants from Serbia and some 100 specialists from abroad participated actively in the work of the Congress.

The plenary sections of the 16th Congress of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine have been dedicated to the latest findings in the field of biochemical markers of various diseases and states, namely to the importance of markers of atherosclerosis, cardiac markers in patient treatment, biomarkers of inflammation and apoptosis, markers of ischemic stroke, certain forms of apolipoproteins, bone markers – their nature and application, markers of kidney diseases, prostate cancer and urinary tract tumor, diabetes, and up-to-date patient treatment in intensive care. The influence of oxidative stress on the appearance of a disease, as well the role of functional foods in the promotion of health has been also deliberated.

A separate section was dedicated to the application of quality indicators in medical laboratories relating to sensitivity and accuracy of the results, ways of avoiding errors in laboratories and the process of laboratory accreditation as a means of avoiding and diminishing errors and improving the general quality of the laboratory work. Besides the presentations by local experts, in the program of the Congress participations took the numbers of distinguished lecturers from the United States of America, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, England, Italy, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria and the Republic of Srpska.

The majority of registered participants presented the results of their scientific and expert research as part of the poster presentations which included cardiovascular diseases and cardiac markers, methods in clinical chemistry, proteins and enzymes, lipids and lipoproteins and free topics.

The topics selected covered in a multidisciplinary fashion the field of laboratory medicine and other medical sciences. The multidisciplinary character of the Congress is further accentuated by the fact that many experts of various profiles took active part with their work. Therefore, like in the previous years, this Congress allowed for the latest scientific and expert results to be presented and for experiences to be exchanges, which will contribute to the promotion of contemporary laboratory practice.

During the Congress the 4th EFCC Symposium for Balkan Region held under the titled The Impact of the Preanalytical Phase on the Quality of Laboratory Results, where the latest findings regarding the application and significance of the impact of preanalytical factors on the quality of laboratory results have been presented with the goal of preventing preanalytical errors that can cause damage to the patients as well as the entire laboratory procedure. Safety measures during the process of collecting biological samples from patients e.g. during venipunctures, for the purpose of protecting the patients also have been discussed. Besides presentations on the impact of the preanalytical phase in hematology, sample stability, the recommendations and ways of educating staff regarding the quality of diagnostic samples have been reviewed. In order to achieve the best possible results, the participants presented the new approaches in laboratory medicine dealing with the application and philosophy behind the LEAN and SIX SIGMA techniques.

Experts from Europe (Italy, Germany, and Belgium) and America participated in the Symposium. The main tittles of the presentations and lecturers have been: Impact of preanalytical variables on specimen quality (Sol Green, USA), Misidentification and other preanalytical errors (Pierangelo Bonnini, Italy), Standards of safety in blood collection (Camilla Mattiuzzi, Italy), Preanalytical phase in haematology (Giuseppe Banfi, Italy), Governance of the preanalytical phase: error detection (Giuseppe Lippi). Quality of diagnostic samples, recommendations and educational tools (Walter Guder, Germany), Sample stability (Gian Luca Salvagno, Italy), and Application of Lean and Six Sigma to the preanalytical phase (Ana Stanković, USA).

The experiences in the pre-analytical phase technology in medical laboratories in Balkan region have been presented by Zorica Šumarac (Serbia), Manole Cojocaru (Romania), Anna Tzontcheva (Bulgaria), Aggeliki Stathaki (Greece), Gheorghe Benga (Romania), George D. Maropoulos (Greece). Round table discussions on the topics presented served as the basis for reaching conclusions and guidelines in this area of laboratory medicine with the aim of achieving the best possible results to the benefit of patient treatment.

During the course of the Congress and Symposium a permanent exhibition of equipment and reagents has been on display, and many practical workshops have been organized by different companies.

As Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia was appointed by EFCC as organizer of the Symposium for the Balkan Region and University of Belgrade (Serbia) the EFCC Educational Centre, Professor Victor Blaton, EFCC President during the opening of the Symposium presented the lecture on the EFCC activities and a new vision of the development of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine in Europe.

3rd FESCC SYMPOSIUM FOR BALKAN REGION

3rd FESCC SYMPOSIUM FOR BALKAN REGION
Belgrade, September 20–22, 2007.

The 3rd FESCC Symposium for Balkan Region entitled “Theory and Application of Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine”, held September 20–22, 2007 in Belgrade, was jointly organized by the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia, Institute of Medical Biochemistry of the Clinical Centre of Serbia, and the Committee on Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine of the International Federation for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). The Symposium was held under the auspices of the IFCC, European Federation for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFCC) and the Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation (BCLF). The Symposium for Balkan Region is organized in Belgrade on a regular basis, since Belgrade has been chosen as the regional centre by the EFCC with the purpose of hosting meetings dealing with the education and promotion of experts in the field of Laboratory Medicine in the Balkan region...