Congresses and Conference Committee (C-CC)

C-CC Executive Committee (C-CC-EC)Chair:

Chair:
Prof. Tomris OZBEN (TR)

Members:
Mr. Joseph LOPEZ (MY)
Prof. James WESENBERG (CA)

Corporate Representative:
Dr. Peng YIN (US)

Corresponding Members:
Prof. Montserrat BLANES GONZALES (PY)
Prof. Pierre CARAYON (FR)
Ms. Orla Maguire (IE)
Prof. Tomas ZIMA (CZ)

7.1 Summary of C-CC

The Committee on Congresses and Conferences was established in December 2007, and is the continuation of the former Congress and Conference Division (CCD) which was founded in 1996, but with an expanded charter and responsibilities. The C-CC has the major administrative and managerial responsibility within the IFCC for all meetings coordinated by the IFCC.

7.1.1. C-CC Mission statement

The mission of the C-CC is to provide general administration and management of all IFCC meeting activities (congresses, conferences, and symposia) and to review  applications for IFCC auspices from non-IFCC conferences requesting such sponsorship.

7.1.2. C-CC Strategy

The C-CC supports and promotes Clinical Laboratory Sciences through congresses, conferences, specialised meetings, and other professional meetings. The C-CC Works closely with the organisers of the various IFCC related conferences to ensure that they achieve organisational and professional excellence.

7.1.3. Projects

  • The C-CC formulates and updates as required the guidelines, procedures and practices for IFCC-designated meetings and also monitors  compliance throughout the planning and organizational stages. The C-CC assists the organizing groups in the administration and promotion of conferences, and helps these conferences obtain support, and achieve financial efficiency in the various economical aspects of their meetings.

  • The C-CC reviews all existing meeting guidelines every three years to ensure their continued applicability and will write new guidelines for those meetings not covered by existing procedures.

  • The C-CC maintains a current 5-year listing of congresses and conferences of professional interest to the members of the IFCC, including both IFCC related conferences and those outside the IFCC. This allows members to be aware of these meetings and allows potential conference organisers to plan the dates of their meetings with care.

  • The C-CC designates as official IFCC approved meetings those conferences that conform to the requirements of the IFCC as a professional organisation, in order to promote the field of clinical laboratory sciences and protect the interests of the IFCC. Within the framework of the IFCC designated meetings, the C-CC will  promote the IFCC and its functional units and discuss the possibility of integration     of IFCC units and members in the programme of the conference.

  • The C-CC assists in expanding the list of IFCC Master Conferences on specific scientific and educational topics and promotes the leadership role of the IFCC in the field of Clinical Laboratory Sciences.

7.1.4. Members of C-CC Executive Committee and terms of appointment

Name Position Country Term Time in Office
T. Ozben Chair TR 2nd 2011 01 - 2013 12
J. Lopez Member MY 1st 2012 01 - 2014 12
J. Wesemberg Member CA 2nd 2011 01 - 2013 12
P. Yin Corporate Member US 1st 2012 01 - 2014 12
M. Blanes Gonzales Corresponding Member PY 1st 2012 01 - 2014 12
P. Carayon Corresponding Member FR 2nd 2012 01 - 2014 12
O. Maguire Corresponding Member IE 1st 2012 01 - 2014 12
T. Zima Corresponding Member CZ 2nd 2012 01 - 2014 12

 

7.2. International Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ICCCLM)  

I Amsterdam (NL) 1954
II New York (US) 1956
III Stockholm (SE) 1957
IV Edinburgh (UK) 1960
V Detroit (US) 1963
VI Munich (DE) 1966
VII Geneva/Evian (CH/FR) 1969
VIII Copenhagen (DK) 1972
IX Toronto (CA) 1975
X Mexico City (MX) 1978
XI Vienna (AT) 1981
XII Rio de Janeiro (BR) 1984
XIII The Hague (NL) 1987
XIV San Francisco (US) 1990
XV Melbourne (AU) 1993
XVI London (UK) 1996
XVII Florence (IT) 1999
XVIII Kyoto (JP) 2002
XIX Orlando (US) 2005
XX Fortaleza (BR) 2008
XXI Berlin (DE) 2011
XXII Instanbul (TR) 2014
XXIII Durban (ZA) 2017

 

7.3. IFCC Regional Congresses

7.3.1. Asian Pacific Federation of Clinical Biochemistry (APFCB)

III Singapore (SG) 1986
IV Hong Kong (HK) 1988
V Kobe (JP) 1991
VI Melbourne (AU) 1993
VII Bangkok (TH) 1995
VIII Kuala Lumpur (MY) 1998
IX New Dehli (IN) 2001
X Perth (AU) 2004
XI Beijing (CN) 2007
XII Seoul (KR) 2010
XIII Bali (ID) 2013

7.3.2. European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFCC formerly FESCC)

I Munich (DE) 1974
II Prague (CZ) 1976
III Brighton (UK) 1979
IV Vienna (AT) 1981
V Budapest (HU) 1983
VI Jerusalem (IL) 1985
VII Den Hague (NL) 1987
VIII Milan (IT) 1989
IX Crakow (PL) 1991
X Nice (FR) 1993
XI Tampere (FI) 1995
XII Basel (CH) 1997
XIII Florence (IT) 1999
XIV Prague (CZ) 2001
XV Barcelona (ES) 2003
XVI Glasgow (UK) 2005
XVII Amsterdam (NL) 2007
XVIII Innsbruck (AT) 2009
XIX Berlin (DE) (with ICCCLM 2011) 2011
XX Milan (IT) 2013
XXI Paris (FR) 2015

7.3.4. Latin American Confederation of Clinical Biochemistry (COLABIOCLI)

S.to Domingo (DO) 1991
Acapulco (MX) 1993
Buenos Aires (AR) 1995
Caracas (VE) 1997
Puerto Rico (PR) 1999
Florianopolis (BR) 2001
San José (CR) 2003
Asunciòn (PA) 2006
Panama (PAN) 2007
Santiago (CL) 2010
Punta Cana (DO) 2011
Lima (PE) 2013

7.3.6. Arab Federation of Clinical Biochemistry (AFCB)

Cairo (EG) 1974
Faihaa (SY) 1976
Cairo (EG) 1980
Cairo (EG) 1983
Cairo (EG) 1986
Tunis (TN) 1991
Faihaa (SY) 1994
Amman (JO) 1997
Rabat (MA) 2000
Monastir (TU) 2004
Damascus (SY) 2006
Beirut (LB) 2009
Marrakesh (MA) 2012
Sudan 2015

7.3.7 African Federation of Clinical Chemistry (AFCC)

Ibadan (NG) 2009
Nairobi (KE) 2011

 

7.4. IFCC Specialized Conferences

7.4.1. IFCC-Roche Diagnostics Bergmeyer Conferences

Goals and Objectives

  • The Bergmeyer Conferences founded in 1987 are a collaborative effort of IFCC and Roche Diagnostics focused on standardisation issues.
  • The objectives of these Conferences are:
    • Improving the Comparability and Compatibility of Laboratory Assay results in life sciences;
    • Improving the Clinical Value of Laboratory Data;
    • Discussion of Standardisation Issues and suggesting solutions in order to achieve the first two objectives;
    • Master Discussion of Experts and a Brain Storming Forum for projects to be executed by Scientific Division's Committees or Working Groups.
    • Each Conference is devoted to a rapid developing new area relevant for laboratory science and clinical medicine. The scope of a Conference is to be organised in that manner that besides comprehensive review also future trends, analytical pitfalls and the rationale, clinical use of the diagnostic procedures have to be considered.
    • These Conferences are Master Discussions of experts in the respective topic of a Conference. Participation is only possible on invitation.
    • The governing body of these Conferences is the Steering Committee consisting of IFCC (3), the editor of the proceedings (1) and Roche Diagnostics (1) representatives.
    • Conferences are held in Eibsee, Germany.
    • Lectures and contributions presented at the Conferences are published in the Conference proceedings.

Steering Committee

Name                     Position                           Country       Time in Office

I. Young                IFCC-SD Chair                 (UK)             2011 -
F. Baumann            Roche Diagnostics            (DE)             2006 -
A. Kallner               Editor of Proceedings        (SE)             1988 -
M. Ferarri               IFCC-EMD Chair               (IT)              2012 -
T. Ozben                IFCC C-CC Chair              (TR)             2009 -

Terms of Reference

  • Organisation of Bergmeyer Conferences: selection of date and topic; responsibility for the scientific content and selection of speakers;appointment of an ad hoc Working Group (occasionally) for the preparation of draft   documents to be circulated prior to the respective Conference to the participants; review of the organisational and financial commitments.
  • Review of documents produced in conjunction with each Conference;
  • Submission of documents to the Scientific Division for final approval;
  • Publication of proceedings - Appointment of editors;
  • The Proceedings are published in the Scandinavian Journal;
  • Collaboration with Roche Diagnostics and the local organising group
  • Report to Scientific Division, information to the Congresses and Conferences Committee;
  • The Membership to be nominated by SD and approved by EB. The terms of the IFCC members are usually 3 years; re-appointments are possible.

Recent Conferences:

VII      1999   Biochemical markers for myocardial damage
VIII     2001   Biochemical markers of autoimmune disease
IX       2003   Nucleic acid markers for bacterial and viral infections in intensive care
X        2005   Diabetes and cardiovascular disease
XI       2008   Markers of kidney disease
XII      2010   Novel biomarkers: from discovery to clinical application
XIII     2012   Vitamin D in health and disease

 

7.4.6. Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Conference

Goals and Objectives

  • This Conference was inaugurated in 2008 with the generous support of Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. It will be held every two years starting in 2011.
  • The objective of this conference is to strengthen the link between the clinician and the clinical laboratory. Each conference will be dedicated to a specific disease state or to particular medical problem. The speakers will be internationally renowned experts in the particular field that is the topic of the conference. There will be strong participation of clinicians as speakers. The attendance will be limited to approximately 200 persons to allow for lively discussion.
  • The Scientific Division is responsible for the scientific programme and it will appoint a chair for each conference. That chair will take advice from expert clinicians and laboratory medicine specialists.
  • The conference proceedings will be published in the Journal, Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine.

Conferences:

I         Birmingham (UK)     2008   Cardiac biomarkers
II        Paris (FR)               2011   Pregnancy-related disorders

 

7.5. Congress Guidelines and Other Documents

The following documents have been prepared by the C-CC.

  • Auspices of the IFCC - Guidelines and Procedures
  • Guidelines for International Congresses of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ICCCLM)
  • Guidelines for EFCC European Congresses of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EuroMedLab)

 

7.6. IFCC General Conference

Aim

The aim of the IFCC General Conference is to convene all the IFCC functional units at one time and location, in order to discuss present activities and projects, and to plan and decide on future actions of the organization.

Responsibilities

  • The Committee on Congresses and Conferences (C-CC) of the IFCC bears overall responsibility for the organization of the General Conference.
  • The IFCC Secretary is responsible for the Conference agenda.
  • The IFCC Executive Board is responsible for detailed programme content
  • The IFCC Office will carry out the administrative activities in preparing for the Conference in collaboration with the C-CC and a local organizing committee from the national society of the country where the meeting is being held.

Time and Venue

  • A General Conference is held once during the triennial term of the Executive Board (EB) of IFCC, usually during the second year. The EB decides on the time of the year at which to hold this Conference.
  • The EB will decide on the venue for the IFCC General Conference following a recommendation from the C-CC.
  • The duration of the General Conference is 2 days, and is preceded by 2 days of an EB meeting and meetings of the Divisions and Committees. This period is required to enable all the IFCC functional units to meet individually and collectively.

Scope

  • Prior to the General Conference all IFCC functional units carry out their own meetings, meet with their immediate and/or Divisional supervisors, and report on the progress of their projects and on project proposals. The Division Executive Committees then meet with the EB to present the status of their Division, and to obtain consent for future and/or continuing activities.
  • Representatives from Full Members and Corporate Members join IFCC functional units for the General Conference proper.

Conferences:

I         Rungestedgaard (DK)     1981
II        Rungestedgaard (DK)     1984
III       Monza (IT)                   1988
IV       Pont-a-Mousson (FR)      1992
V        Leipzig (DE)                  1995
VI       Sevilla (ES)                   1998
VII      Dubrovnik (HR)              2001
VIII     Sousse (TN)                  2004
IX       Antalya  (TR)                 2008
X        Corfu (GR)                     2010
XI       Kuala Lumpur (MY)         2012

7.7. Committee members' contact details

Prof. Tomris OZBEN
Akdeniz University Medical Faculty,
Dept. of Biochemistry
07070 Antalya, Turkey
e-mail: ozben@akdeniz.edu.tr

Mr. Joseph LOPEZ
Dept. of  Biomedical Sciences
MAHSA University College
50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
e-mail: jblopez@streamyx.com

Prof. James WESENBERG
Clinical Laboratory
David Thompson Health Region
3942 50A Avenue
Red Deer, Alberta, T4N 4E7, Canada
e-mail: jwesenberg@dthr.ab.ca

Dr. Peng YIN
Global Scientific Affairs
Abbott Diagnostic Division
Abbott Bldg CP1
100 Abbott Park Road
Abbott Park, IL 60064, USA
e-mail: peng.yin@abbott.com


Corresponding Members:

Prof. Montserrat BLANES GONZALES
Grupo Habitacional Aereopuerto 248
Asuncion, Paraguay
e-mail: mblanes@ips.gov.py

Prof. Pierre CARAYON
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Marseille Medical School and University Hospital,
University of the Mediterranean
27 Boulevard Jean-Moulin
F-13385 Cedex 05, Marseille - France
e-mail: pierre.carayon@univmed.fr

Ms. Orla MAGUIRE
Clinical Biochemistry Department,
St Vincent's University Hospital
Elm Park
Dublin 4, Ireland
e-mail: o_maguire@hotmail.com

Prof. Tomas ZIMA
Institute of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine
1st Medical Faculty and General Teaching Hospital
Charles University,
U Nemocnice 2,
CZ-12108 Prague2, Czech Republic
e-mail: zimatom@cesnet.cz