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The 2nd FESCC SYMPOSIUM FOR THE BALKAN REGION was held from October 17th to October 21st 2006, along with the XV Congress of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine, in the organization of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia. Both congresses were held under the auspices of the IFCC and FESCC, as well as the Ministry of Science and Environment Protection of the Republic of Serbia.
The topic of the held 2nd FESCC Symposium for the Balkan Region was �New Diagnostic Tools and Quality in Laboratory Medicine�. The coordinators of the Symposium were Professors Nada Majkić-Singh, president of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia, Victor Blaton, president of the FESCC, and Svetlana Ignjatović, president of the Commission of the Society of Medical Biochemists for external quality control. The Symposium and Congress were attended by some 400 medical biochemists from Serbia and other Balkan countries.
The 2nd FESCC Symposium was organized in such a way as to have four parts. In the first part of the Symposium under the title �New Diagnostic Tools in Clinical Chemistry� the application of new diagnostic techniques such as SELDI-TOF MS, 2 D-HPLC and protein microarrays was proposed in lectures such as �Application of SELDI-TOF MS in Protein Profiling: Promises and Pitfalls� (given by Prof. Marja M. P. van Dieijen-Visser, Mastricht, Netherlands); �Application of 2 D-HPLC System for Plasma Protein Separation� (by Dr. Isabela Levreri, Genova, Italy), and �xMAP technology as a new tool for clinical and immunological diagnostics� (by Dr Wolfgang Gubisch, Austria).
In the second part the application of biomarkers of diseases according to the principles of evidence-based medicine was discussed (Prof. Svetlana Ignjatović, Belgrade, Serbia), supported by outstanding examples relating to the cardiac natriuretic peptide, complexed PSA and HER-2 neu and the bone markers in lectures �Cardiac Natriuretic Peptides in Risk Assessment of Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction of Congestive Heart Failure� (Prof. Johannes Mair, Innsbruck, Austria), �Complexed PSA (CPSA) and Serum HER-2 neu: Clinical Aspects Using These Serum Markers in Prostate and Breast Cancer (Prof. Rainer Neumann, Germany), and �The Clinical Value of the Biochemical Markers of Bone Remodeling in Assessment of Bone Metabolic Diseases� (Prof. Jan Stepan, Prague, Czech Republic).
In the third part of the Symposium titled �Application of Quality Indicators in a Medical Laboratory� the following lectures were given: �The Quality of the Sample and its Impact on Clinical Decisions� (Dr. Du�ko Mirković, Belgrade, Serbia) and �ISO 15189 and Interlaboratory Comparison Programs� (Dr. Jakub Hejsek, Czech Republic), as well as a discourse about �Modern Sample Management� (Dr. Sanja Stanković, Belgrade, Serbia).
In the fourth part of the Symposium, �Round Table Discussion on Presented Topics�, the opportunities for applying new techniques and the awareness of the principles of evidence-based laboratory medicine in the Balkan region were discussed, as well as the need for organizing further education of laboratory staff along those lines. As the third part of the Symposium, relating to the application of Quality Control Indicators in Medical Laboratories, in a way followed the discourses given in the 1st FESCC Symposium (Belgrade, June 2005), it was concluded that during the next FESCC Symposiums for the Balkan region all aspects of introducing and maintaining quality in laboratories should be discussed, at the same time analyzing the situation in the countries of the Balkan region.
Participants of the Symposium rated the 2nd FESCC Symposium as having high quality, recommending that they be held on a regular basis, organized by the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia and the FESCC.
The XV Congress of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine, held after the 2nd FESCC Symposium, was organized through seven plenary and poster sections, which dealt with the questions of genomes and proteomes, contemporary aspects of the atherothrombotic disease, biochemical markers of diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cardiac markers, methods in clinical chemistry and proteins and enzymes. Along with the Congress, several workshops of various companies were organized, as well as an exhibition showing apparatuses and equipment.
Photo Legend: Organizing Committee (from left to right): Cica Lazarevic, Olivera Jankovic, Nada Majkic-Singh, Nada Maksimovic, Tatjana Vodnik, Milanka Petkovic, Bata Bogunovic
JIB 2006 in Paris(FR): satisfying the biologists needs for state of the art information
Bernard GOUGET; SFBC-FESCC representative, FESCC advisory board member
and Damien GRUSON, Cliniques Universitaires St Luc, Bruxelles (BE)
The 51st Journ�es Internationales de Biologie (JIB) took place on November 7-10th, 2006 at the CNIT Convention Centre in Paris. Tunisia was our guest of honor. This event was the most important event in the field of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine in France. A lab exposition and trade show with more than 170 exhibitors were combined with a scientific programme focused on the state of the art of this discipline and on current practices in the medical laboratory . The JIB met the expectations of biologists in the private and hospital sector, biomedical engineers, technicians and hospital physicians, allowing them to collect extensive and comprehensive information on the progress and technical advances achieved in this speciality.
During the SFBC General Assembly, held during the JIB meeting, Pr Alain Legrand was elected as the new SFBC President (see photograph). Alain Legrand is professor of clinical biochemistry at the faculty of Pharmacy-University Ren� Descartes-Paris V, director of the biochemistry department at the University Hospital Kremlin-Bic�tre, Assistance Publique�H�pitaux de Paris. He has been active in the SFBC since the late 1970s. Among his many leadership positions, he was Editor in chief for the �information scientifique du biologiste�; one of the official journals of the SFBC. He is internationally recognized for his research, which has focused on free radical biology and antioxidants in diseases, lipid biochemistry and atherosclerosis and inflammation.
The 2006 edition of the JIB was distributed around 12 sessions and 85 keynote speakers. The Soci�t� Fran�aise de Biologie Clinique (SFBC) and the Inserm ( National Medical Research Institute) opened the programme on Tuesday, November 7, 2006 with a day dedicated to the Comit� d�Interface Inserm � Biologie Clinique dedicating on "Metabolic Diseases and Rare Diseases". The session on "Rare inherited metabolic and genetic diseases", "Diseases induced by aggressive treatments", were also organized. The Comit� Scientifique de la SFBC reported on the advances of the SFBC working groups: "Hepatic fibrosis", "Biology of renal functions" and "Markers of Tabacco�s"; "Biological markers of hepatic fibrosis"; "Biology of renal functions and renal insufficiency" and the "Impact of nicotine replacement therapy". The SFBC afternoon session was devoted to �Principles of molecular imaging and its main domains of application in Biology�. The SFBC session on continuous training for clinical chemists, was devoted to �Chronic lymphoproliferative disorders in the clinical laboratory�, starting with practical analytical methods, diagnostic approaches and confirmation of the diagnosis.
The �caf� scientifique� was designed as a discussion forum enhancing free debates and exchanges between speakers and visitors on current or specific topics in the biology field. The programme included also a session on �POCT: technological improvement and practical applications� organized by Isabelle Rivi�re, Biotribune and sponsored by Instrumentation Laboratory. The session was chaired by Pr Philippe Gillery, past SFBC president and IFCC representative and co-chair by Damien Gruson. Pr Jocelyn HICKS, IFCC president and invited guest, gave a lecture on the management of POCT. Dr. F Daures (Montpellier,FR), Pr. M. Philippe (Bruxelles,FR), Dr. A. Gruson (Arras,FR) reported their expertises and presented guidelines for the implementation of POCT in the new environment of the hospital to fulfil the patient needs. Jocelyn HICKS attended also the administration council of SFBC where she presented the IFCC activities and strategies reinforcing the collaborations between SFBC and IFCC Pr HICKS was nominated to receive the �SFBC honorary membership 2007�. The SFBC thanked Pr Jocelyn HICKS for her visit and contribution to the scientific activities of the SFBC in her aim to promote IFCC leadership worldwide.
Professor Alain Legrand newly elected president of the SFBC
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