Communications and Publications Division (CPD) of the IFCC
Editor: Katherina Psarra, MSc, PhD
Department of Immunology - Histocompatibility
Evangelismos Hospital, Athens, Greece
E-mail: enews@ifcc.org

International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine

N° 3 – March 2019In t h is issue
 EDITORIAL
 Message from the eNews Editor

4

 THE VOICE OF IFCC
 Highlights of recent events in Bioethics

5

 The IFCC-Abbott Visiting Lecturer Programme6 Leadership basics for clinical laboratory professionals

8 The new IFCC Committee on Bone Metabolism (C-BM)
is now on its wheels!

10 IFCC: THE PEOPLE
 Welcome and thanks to the Chairs

12 Open positions within IFCC

15

 IFCC: THE YOUNG SCIENTISTS
 IFCC Task Force for Young Scientists “TEAM TF-YS”

16 CONTRIBUTE TO IFCC eNEWS
 Artificial intelligence, open digital resources and open science19

 NEWS FROM REGIONAL FEDERATIONS AND MEMBER SOCIETIES News from the Indonesian Associationof Clinical Chemistry (IACC)

22

In t h is issu e ( cont 'd) News from the Malaysian Associationof Clinical Biochemists (MACB)

24

 News from the Japanese Societyof Clinical Chemistry (JSCC)

26

 News from the Finnish Societyof Clinical Chemistry (FSCC)

28

 SERBIS: building a bridge of knowledge
between East and West30

 IFCC'S CALENDAR OF CONGRESSES, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Calendar of IFCC Congresses/Conferences
and Regional Federations' Congresses32 Calendar of events with IFCC auspices

33

EDITORIAL
Message from the eNews Editor
by Katherina Psarra
eNews Editor
Here we are again, dear colleagues, with a new issue of the eNews.
A lot of interesting information about Bioethics, a hot topic regarding
science nowadays or about big data can be found in this issue.
We hope, you found the occasion to know better Professor Adeli and his
successor in the previous issue.
You have the opportunity to learn about Edgard Delvin’s charismatic
leadership in this issue by his committee colleagues. His successor
presentation is also there for you to see.
Our younger colleagues, IFCC's future, are also presented.
News from the national societies may offer you some glimpse of theiraccomplishments.
Thanking you again for your contribution and looking forward to an evenbetter collaboration.
Katherina Psarra

News from the IFCC Website
EuroMedLab Video - Why attend EuroMedLab Barcelona 2019?
Outstanding plenary lectures and educational sessions
addressing important topics in Laboratory diagnostics inhealth care and research. "Whatever our field of laboratory medicine or work environment, it is important that
we regularly come together to discuss, debate and decide on the best practice for laboratory medicine to improve the quality of healthcare for our patients and ourcommunities" - H. Morris, IFFC President. "Laboratory
Medicine has always been the cross-sectional discipline
setting the pace for progress in many areas of modern
medicine by thoroughly implementing analytical innovation and professional practice in the medical diagnostic laboratory, and she will continue to do so in the
future" - M. Neumaier, EFLM President. Watch the IFCC video on YouTube!
Read more

4THE VOICE OF IFCC
Highlights of recent events in Bioethics
Notes from the conference on “Bioethics and Clinical Cases in the Pediatric Laboratory”
by Nilda E. Fink
Chair IFCC Task Force on Ethics (TF-E)
Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas,
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas,
Universidad Nacional de La Plata,
La Plata - Argentina
since the early 1970s, and is considered as the ethicalconcepts of medicine which seeks to offer to the patient justice and equal access to care. She remarked
that the beneficence and autonomy of the patientmust always be in mind of those dedicated to thetask of alleviating suffering and illness.
Nilda E. Fink

The X CALILAB Congress organized by Fundación Bioquímica Argentina (FBA) is a Congress on Quality inthe clinical laboratory and was held in the Convention
Center of the city of Buenos Aires from 24 to 27 October 2018. The Congress covered a variety of subjects
such as Biosafety, Quality in Clinical Biochemistry, Histocompatibility and Genetics, genomics and other relevant topics in the Clinical Laboratory.
Taking into consideration the IFCC recommendation to
include activities on Ethics in every Congress, a symposium on “Bioethics and clinical cases related to pediatric laboratory” was included.
The presentation was given by Dr. Graciela Queiruga,
member of the Board of Faculty of Chemistry at the
University of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, former
President of COLABIOCLI and SLEIMPN. Dr. Queiruga introduced the basics on Bioethics defined as thesystematic study of human behavior in the field oflife sciences and health care, examined in the lightof values ​​and moral principles (Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 4th Ed. Macmillan Reference USA, 2014). She
pointed out that the word Bioethics has been used

She also emphasized that the natural limits of technical actions done by the human being are more andmore imprecise, therefore, moral limits are needed
more than ever. It is necessary to harmonize theamount of scientific information that presents ethical dilemmas and the need to be raised to the levelof the international scientific community, in order toensure respect for human life in the field of scientificresearch.
Dr. Queiruga pointed out that Pediatric Laboratory
Medicine is an excellent field to apply the four principles of Ethics (Autonomy, Justice, Beneficence andNon-maleficence). For instance, an excellent exampleof the application of the principles of Bioethics is anational, free and mandatory program of Neonatal
Screening that could detect a disease in time to treat
and avoid mental retardation, neurological sequelae
or death itself.
In a program that reaches all babies born in her country, Uruguay, without distinction of the place of birth,the principle of justice is applied. The resolution of
the Health authority that makes the early detectionof certain diseases obligatory enables them to takesamples without need for consent or autonomy andArticle continued on next page5

the procedure harmlessness is an example of non-­maleficence.
Dr. Queiruga mentioned that Medicine’s goals have
moved from an approach aimed at disease diagnosis
and treatment to disease prediction and prevention.
Millions of newborns are screened per year in theworld; as an example 4,000,000 children are screened
in USA for more than 50 diseases (29 central and 25
secondary diseases). The MsMs spectrometry has allowed these investigations in a single run with a single
drop of blood.
WHO states that the screening should be mandatory and free of charge if early diagnosis and treatment benefit the newborn (Kerruish NJ, Robertson
SP. 2005 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC1734185/).
During her presentation Dr. Queiruga reviewed themost relevant international documents in the fieldsuch as the Universal declaration of bioethics and human rights UNESCO, 2005 https://unesdoc.unesco.
org/ark:/48223/pf0000142825.page=80.

She accepted that not everything is beneficial and that
there are still controversies and difficulties. The possibility of false negatives, as well as cut-off points definition and performance of external and internal quality
controls should be a concern of laboratorians. On theother hand, false positives cause stress to the parents
when a new sample is requested. The program must
control that they are within reasonable margins, trying
not to increase costs with many useless examinations.
During her presentation, four cases from her own experience were discussed based on the concept that
deliberation is the best methodology to ma-nage andresolve ethical quandaries.
She also pointed out that while residual samples arepotentially a huge data bank for research purposes, thelaboratory must be very careful to protect the identityof patients and the samples should only be used forcharitable purposes.
Finally, she stressed that a Neonatal Screening governed by the principles of Bioethics can be an immense
contribution to the quality of life.

The IFCC-Abbott Visiting Lecturer Programme
A tool to facilitate the international exchange of knowledge
by Nader Rifai
IFCC VLP Chair
Department of Laboratory Medicine,
Boston Children’s Hospital, MA, USA
With the generous support of Abbott Diagnostics, the
IFCC Visiting Lecturer Programme (VLP) has been aflagship project and a highly successful effort to promote knowledge exchange in laboratory medicine
throughout the world.
IFCC Member societies can apply for the VLP to obtain funding so prominent experts can visit and lecturein their countries or regions. Visiting lecturers are required to make at least two presentations usually one
as a plenary lecture and the other as an interactive
workshop on a topic of interest to the hosting country.
During the past three years (2016-2018), a total of
36 applications were awarded. They were submitted
from a variety of regions including:ÂÂ 11 from Africa and the Middle EastÂÂ 11 from Latin America
ÂÂ 10 from AsiaÂÂ 4 from Europe
The topics covered by the VLP include:ÂÂ Analytical Quality
ÂÂ Laboratory management
ÂÂ Laboratory accreditation
ÂÂ The value of laboratory medicine in healthcareÂÂ The role of global standardization
ÂÂ Harmonization of laboratory practice andmethods
Article continued on next page6

Details of the VLP may be found at www.ifcc.org,
following the link to the Education and Management
Division.

is very simple and the forms can be easily downloaded from the IFCC website.
•

Describe the selection process
and criteria for acceptanceUpon receipt of an application, the IFCC staff evaluates it for completeness and the appropriateness ofthe budget then forward it to the VLP committee
for input. The committee members evaluate theproposal and vote on the approval of each application. Each invited expert is expected to give atleast two presentations, in the form of a lecture ora workshop. Speakers are instructed to tailor theirpresentations to meet local needs.
Furthermore, in order to promote and enhance
the IFCC e-Academy, the invited speaker may be
asked to record a 20-minute lecture on the presented topic. This effort will help to enrich thee-Academy and provide an excellent resource forlearning to IFCC members.

•

How do you evaluate the successof this program?
We have recently modified our evaluation forms
to better capture the feedback from the inviting
national society regarding the VLP process andfrom the attendees regarding the quality of the
speakers and presentations as well as the appropriateness of the meeting place. The feedback wehave been receiving has been very positive.

•

What is your vision for this programme?
As indicated above, this programme has been
made available through the generous support of
Abbott Diagnostics, for which we are eternallygrateful. Based on the great success of this programme in 2018, Abbott had increased its levelof support for 2019 to enable more societies totake advantage of this opportunity. The combination of the IFCC e-Academy and the VLP provides a powerful educational tool. I would like to
see a richer, more comprehensive, and curriculum-based e-Academy that provides the needed
lectures with the VLP focusing more on interactive
workshops for knowledge and “how to” transfer
and to train local talents to conduct similar workshops regionally.

Prof. Nader Rifai

PROF. NADER RIFAI, IFCC VLP CHAIR,
EXPLAINS THE PROGRAMMETO THE READERS•

What are the objectives of the VLP
and how does it work?
The VLP’s main goal is to facilitate the transfer andexchange of knowledge in laboratory medicine
throughout the world. The programme helps tobridge the gap in the practice of laboratory medicine among the various world regions to improvethe delivery of healthcare. National societies canapply for the VLP to invite recognized experts totheir countries or regions to lecture and/or conduct workshops on topics of local interest. The
VLP covers the cost of air travel while the hostsociety covers the rest of the expenses such asaccommodation, meeting registration fee, meals,
and local transportation. The application process7

Leadership basics for clinical laboratory professionals
C-CLM brings in a new manual to prepare laboratory leaders
by Sedef Yenice
C-CLM Chairclerks, phlebotomists, medical laboratory assistants
and medical laboratory technologists at various stations throughout our laboratory, and they help makeit sure that it runs smoothly and safely around theclock. They are the people that we cannot do without.
As we all know, if it were not for these hard-working,dedicated professionals, our laboratories would be achaotic place.

Most of us think we have a well-run laboratory because we have lots of resources such as guidelines,
organizational policies, standard operating procedures, quality indicators, quality controls and all typesof measurable data that help us manage and navigate
through challenges we face on a daily basis. We also
attempt to perfect our laboratory practice by meansof in-services and inspections of all types, having continuing education, seminars, professional gatheringsand meetings for all sorts of laboratory-related issues.
Furthermore, we feel confident using mobile phones
and tablets, computers and the internet or other contemporary technologies. We also make good use ofsoftware, websites, and other electronic tools to help
form our opinions or facilitate our work. But, do we
pay close enough attention to the day-to-day routine?
For instance, do we achieve co-operation throughteamwork, do we emphasize common goals, establish
self-confidence in others through talents promotion,
do we encourage initiatives, lead towards the best
utilization of manpower – through motivation, do wedevelop good human relations, improve morale andovercome resistance to change? Or more importantly,
do we analyze our effectiveness, or do we ensure thatwhat we are doing is really working?
As laboratory directors, we must make sure we devote enough quality time with the people who makeour laboratories tick. They are the laboratory office

However, do these individuals work hard but not
smartly enough? And how can we find that out? Suchbarriers become so much a part of our daily routinethat we stop noticing them.
The success of organizational strategies is essentiallydependent on an effective leadership strategy. Compiling the best players for a team is no guarantee forsuccess without a great coach. Good leadership strategy ensures effective work teams.
Recognizing that these are the challenges most of us
face, the Committee on Clinical Laboratory Management (C-CLM) aims to support clinical laboratory professionals to discover their leadership strengths .andto help them reach the highest summits in work success. The Manual on “LEADERSHIP BASICS FOR CLINICAL LABORATORY PROFESSIONALS” is one installment towards achieving these goals.
This manual also complements the C-CLM ClinicalLaboratory Leadership Certificate Program and it ispart of the reading list for this program.
We promote six leadership pillars towards businessand personal success including:•demonstrating social intelligence;•

adopting a flexible leadership style;•empowering others;•

developing trust;•managing risks in an environment of uncertainty,•

seeing the big picture.
Article continued on next page8

It’s an easy read we would recommend to anyone in
the laboratory medicine world. Each chapter presents
the most important facts and concepts related to thesubject area. The chapters address topics such as defining laboratory medicine leaders, effective leadership styles, skills/qualities of a good leader, the leader
as a visionary and a motivator, work culture, and ethics
in leadership. In addition, the assessment tools provided in the appendices are designed to provide readers with insight for the selection of the best leadership model, when starting to manage new people,
selecting which leadership style to use and providing
insight on the motivation level of persons under one’s
authority.
All contributing authors have reflected on their own
professional excellence in their chapters, being educators and outstanding professionals in the laboratory medicine field.
According to Keith Davis, “Leadership is the ability topersuade others to seek defined objectives enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group
together and motivates it towards goals”.
The Manual is downloadable at:
http://www.ifcc.org/media/477640/ifcc-c-clm-manualon-leadership-basics_jan07.pdf

These strengths provide a valuable model in the clinical laboratory workplace, whether one is already in aleadership position or aspiring to get there.
According to James Nichols from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, “Management training is as muchart as science. We all struggle with how to teach management. There is no book you can go to and say, ‘This
is the Bible of management, and if you read this, youhave good management skills.’’
In accordance with this statement we have worked on
the chapters of this manual in order to cast light on
the major points, with a focus on the significance ofleadership in medical laboratory management. Thismanual is simple, to the point and it offers direct information. The concepts discussed are beneficial to
all laboratory management levels with sound advice
about working with teammates. The leadership basics
presented in this manual will make you reevaluate
how you work towards a change.

For many laboratory professionals, leadership skills
and style develop out of mentoring by senior scientists, managers, and directors within the workplace.
While there are clear benefits from sound mentoring,
bad habits and ineffective behavior and strategies canalso be adopted. Good mentoring alone is insufficient
to offer good leadership skills, calling thus on the needfor structured training, and guidance. This manual addresses this gap by providing instructional material tohelp the leaders in laboratory medicine toward more
effective leadership strategies and practices.
We wish to thank the authors for their willingness tocontribute to this publication and we hope that it isboth educational and of practical use for chairs andmanagers.
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one whodoes the greatest things. He is the one that gets thepeople to do the greatest things.” – Ronald Reagan
Prof. Dr. Sedef Yenice
C-CLM Chair
Istanbul Bilim University, Turkey

9The new IFCC Committee on Bone Metabolism (C-BM) is now on its wheels!
by Etienne Cavalier
Chair, IFCC Committee on Bone Metabolism•

Dr. Samuel Vasikaran (Australia) and•Dr. Harjit Pal Bhattoa (Hungary).

They will be helped in their new tasks by Drs. Sturgeon, Sempos and Vesper (consultants), Dr. Konstantinos Makris (IFCC SD liaison), National and IVD representatives.
The terms of reference for the new committee include
the standardization/harmonization of PTH, vitamin D
metabolites and bone markers assays.
Indeed, the lack of standardization amongst these assays results in important issues potentially leading todifferent clinical decisions.
The details of the projects of the C-BM can be found on
the IFCC website http://www.ifcc.org/ifcc-scientificdivision/sd-committees/c-bm/.

Etienne Cavalier

The new IFCC Committee on Bone Metabolism (C-BM)
results from the merge of three different IFCC working
groups, namely on PTH (Chairwoman: Dr. Catharine
Sturgeon), vitamin D (Chairman: Dr. Christopher Sempos) and bone markers (Chairman: Dr. Etienne Cavalier) standardization.
The Chairmanship of this new Committee has been
given by the IFCC Scientific Division Executive Committee to Etienne Cavalier (Belgium) for two years.
The members of this committee’s board
have just been elected and are:• Dr. Annemieke Heijboer (The Netherlands),•

Dr. Candice Ulmer (USA),In short, we aim to promote the use of commutableinternational standards, reference measurement procedures, accuracy-based external quality assessment
schemes and performance guidelines for standardized methods. The C-BM will also try to find partnerships with clinical societies to involve clinicians in theprocess. We are already proud to announce that thiscommittee will be a joined committee with the IOF(International Osteoporosis Foundation).
The C-BM will have its first official meeting during theEuromedlab 2019 event in Barcelona on May 20th.
From a personal perspective, I am really proud to leadsuch a talented team and I would like to thank Professor Morris, Professor Gillery and the IFCC office for
their confidence, as well as our corporate partners fortheir support.
Etienne Cavalier, PharmD, EuSpLM, PhD
Professor of Clinical Chemistry
University of Liège, CHU de Liège
Belgium

10

News from the IFCC Website
The electronic Journal of IFCC (eJIFCC) now fully indexed in MEDLINE/PUBMEDIFCC announces that the Electronic Journal of IFCC (eJIFCC)
has completed indexing of all issues in MEDLINE/PUBMED. All
issues of the journal are indexed and searchable, downloadable, citable from PubMed.
“This is an important step forward for IFCC as PubMed indexing
significantly improves access to eJIFCC articles and promotes
IFCC internationally. Thanks to the many that contributed tothis important achievement”.
eJIFCC has seen a major improvement in both scientific content
and publication format over the past few years again thanks to tireless efforts of current and past editors andthe Editorial Board.
Click here to access eJIFCC issues archived in PubMed Central

News from the IFCC Website
eJIFCC Vol 30 n°1 - February 2019
The first issue of eJIFCC for 2019 is now available.
It includes articles on: recent tests that have revolutionized clinical practice, a
Nepal experience on factors affecting turnaround time in the clinical laboratory,
studies on sodium ion interference in hemolysis, prevalence of anemia and associated factors among hospitalized children, a study on waist circumference cutoff
point determination for defining metabolic syndrome in type 2 diabetes mellitus
in Ethiopia, a report on critical issues and new trends on stat tests in clinicallaboratory, and articles on Diamond Blackfan Anemia and on Gaucher disease.
Three case reports complete the issue.
Read moreNews from the IFCC Website
EUROMEDLAB NEWSFEBRUARY 2019 • ISSUE 3

May 19-23, 2019
CCIB, Barcelona, Spain

EuroMedLab News
The third issue of EuroMedLab News is available on thewebsite of the 23rd IFCC-EFLM European Congress ofClinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine to be held inBarcelona (ES) from 19 to 23 May 2019. Download yourcopy now to learn everything you need to know how tobenefit fully from your participation in the congress!
Read more

11

IFCC: THE PEOPLE
Welcome and thanks to the Chairs
FAREWELL EDGARD DELVIN
Edgard Delvin, chaired the IFCC Committee for Public Relations (C-PR) as well as being Vice-Chair of the
CPD-EC. Prof Edgard Delvin has been Editor-in-chief ofthe IFCC eNewsletter from 2006 till 2012, and Chair of
the IFCC Working Group WE-News.
After obtaining a PhD degree in Biochemistry at the
University of Montreal, Dr. Delvin pursued his post-doctoral training in Biochemical Genetics at the Montreal
Children’s Hospital (McGill University).
In 1973 he joined the Shriners Hospital for Children,
affiliated to McGill University, where he became senior investigator and Associate Director of the Genetics

Unit as well as being Associate Professor in the Department of Experimental Medicine.
In 1992, the University of Montreal recruited him tochair the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at the
University-affiliated Sainte Justine Hospital. He also
was appointed as full Professor of Biochemistry in the
Department of Biochemistry of the Faculty of Medicine.
After his retirement in 2012 he acted as consultant for
the Montreal Children’s Hospital, affiliated with McGill
University until 2014. He has served on the PaediatricEndocrinology Teaching Program of the University ofMontreal until August 2012.

Prof. Edgard Delvin receiving an appreciation plaque for his role as C-PR Chair by Prof. Howard Morris, IFCC President

Article continued on next page12

After being Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Biochemistry from 2006 to 2012, he is now the Special
Issues Editor.
He has authored or co-authored 245 articles, published in internationally recognized journals, and 9 bookchapters. In 2003 he received the research Excellence Award from the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists,and he is a Member of the French Académie Nationale de Médecine.

C-PR members at IFCC General Conference meeting in Budapest (Hungary), in November 2018

Some words by his colleagues within the C-PR
Dear Edgard,
As your term as C-PR has recently come to a close,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you
for your hard work and commitment in building
and growing our Committee to what it is today.
Over the last years, your leadership of C-PR has beencharacterized by not only many creative ideas, but
most valuable, your tireless efforts to increase the visibility of the role of IFCC in the regional and international space.

term as C-PR Chair. I wish you all the very best in yourfuture. We will all miss you, Edgard!
Dr. Magdalena Krintus (PL)--------------------------------------------------------I have worked with Dr. Edgard Delvin, in the Public
Relations Committee.

More personally, since I know you from my first daysin IFCC, you were not only a brilliant chair, a real leader and mentor, but also a true friend. Always kind,cheerful and willing to help.

He has led this group for the last 6 years. His warmth
as a human being and his knowledge have madepossible for people from different continents to work
together in an atmosphere of absolute camaraderie,seeking solutions and trying to bring the advancesin our profession through the effort of the IFCC to all
corners of the planet.

It is my great pleasure to thank you for your great
job and for everything you have accomplished in yourI deeply thank Dr. Delvin for allowing me to broaden
my experience with issues related to the dissemArticle continued on next page13

ination of fundamental concepts for Biochemistry.
Thank you very much, dear Edgard.
Dr. Monica Spalvieri (Argentina)--------------------------------------------------------Dr. Edgard as Chairman of C-PR interacted well withmembers and encouraged full participation in all activities of the Committee. His leadership role was very
good. I like to congratulate and wish him well in his
next assignment.
Dr. Emanuel O. Agbedana (Nigeria)--------------------------------------------------------WELCOME RAJIV ERASMUS

Dear Edgard,
Thank you so much for showing us the way how to be agentle and at the same time efficient leader. Your gentleman manners should be an example to all the scientists. The accomplishment of your constant efforts
have definitely helped IFCC world and our profession
to be more visible and understood.
I wish all the best to you and your family.
Dr. Katherina Psarra (Greece)--------------------------------------------------------Professor Rajiv Erasmus obtained his early educationin India, Malaysia and Ghana and obtained his medical
and specialist degrees from Nigeria. He subsequently
moved to the University of Papua New Guinea, Port
Moresby, Papua New Guinea in 1988.
In 1994 he was appointed as Professor and foundation
head of the department of Chemical Pathology (Clinical
Biochemistry) at the University of Transkei, Mthatha,
South Africa.
In 2002 he became the head of Chemical Pathology at
Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa andexecutive head of Pathology in 2013 and is currently
an Emeritus Professor.
He has been a research fellow at the department of
Pathology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Centre, Charlottesville, USA (1993) and more recently(2014) at Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Professor Erasmus is a founder member of the College
of Pathologists of East, Central and Southern Africa(COPECSA) and its current vice president. He has been
the secretary of the South African Federation of Societies of Pathology (FSASP) since 2011.

Rajiv Erasmus

Rajiv Erasmus, MBBS,FMC.Path(Nig), FWACP, DABCC(Am Board Certified), DHSM(Natal), FCPath(SA), is the
new chair of the IFCC Committee on Public Relations.

Professor Erasmus is interested in the epidemiology
of diabetes mellitus and associated cardiovascularrisk, laboratory and quality management, point ofcare testing (POCT) and more recently in the role ofbio-banking in personalized medicine. In 2011 he set
up the first integrated laboratory management training program in Africa, which has been embraced by
Article continued on next page14

the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) and, in 2014, he established the Point of Care Research
Network for Africa.
In 2014, he, along with the Royal College of Pathologists, UK and COPECSA, developed the LabSkills Africa program
which was rolled out to five sub-Saharan countries in Africa.
He has published 200 peer reviewed articles and abstracts in various scientific journals. Since 2013, he has
been PI or co-PI in grants worth more than R50m.
He serves on several committees of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) as either a member ora corresponding member. He was the Chair of the Organizing Committee for the IFCC WorldLab 2017 Conference
which was held in Durban from 22-25th October 2017.
He is currently the president of the Africa Federation of Clinical Chemistry (AFCC) and the past president of theSouth African Association of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine.
I extend my best wishes for many successful results to the new Chair; and many thanks to Edgard for his contribution to IFCC life!

Open positions within IFCC--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The IFCC invites nominations for the following positions:Task Force Corporate Members (TF-CM): Five positions - Applications close on 15 March 2019.
Applications are to be sent via e-mail to the IFCC Office (paola.bramati@ifcc.org).
Task Force on Ethics (TF-E): One position - Applications close on 31 March 2019.
Applications are to be sent via e-mail to the IFCC Office (colli-lanzi@ifcc.org).
Committee on Point of Care Testing (C-PoCT): One Corporate position.
Applications are to be sent via e-mail to the IFCC Office (cardinale@ifcc.org), by no later than 8 April 2019.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Applications for these positions should be submitted by IFCC members (National Societies or Corporate members).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you are interested, please refer to your National Representative or Corporate Representative for
information on procedures for nominations. To find your representative, click here.

15

IFCC: THE YOUNG SCIENTISTSIFCC Task Force for Young Scientists “TEAM TF-YS”
by Pradeep Dabla
IFCC TF-YS ChairTeam is described simply as “a group of people who are
working through collective endeavour toward a common goal”. Successful teams can help transform an organisation, increase output and offer new objectives.
IFCC initiated Task Force - Young Scientists (TF-YS) in
2010 with the aim to ensure that young scientists
make a significant and growing contribution to the activities of IFCC and other National programmes.

IFCC-TF-YS was proved able to cross the barrier andcreated a strong young scientist support group involving 47 members globally.
Modern information technology & social media (24/7
Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and others) are used to establish networks and to facilitate the communication.
As such, TF-YS partnered with other National and International societies to deliver educational workshops,

TF-YS members:(L-R) Danni LI (US), member until Dec 2019; Santiago Fares Taie (AR); Pradeep Kumar Dabla (IN), TF-YS Chair;
Damien Gruson (BE), TF-YS consultant; Omolara Olutosin Popoola (NG), member until Dec 2019;
Miljan Savkovic (SRB), member until Dec 2019, Guilaine Boursier (FR)Article continued on next page16

trainings, mentorship programmes, webinars to learn
perspectives and principles of Laboratory Management& Leadership, namely: “IFCC-TF-YS Survey”, “IFCC-TF-YS
Mentorship Programme”, “Research Booklet”, “Young
Scientists Awards & Grants”, Webinars and Lab-Surfing.
TF-YS is working with commitment to help the newgeneration facing challenges in the field of laboratory
medicine.
TF-YS is thankful to our outgoing members Danni Li,
Omolara Olutosin Popoola, Miljan Savkovic and appreciate all their efforts as Team members. We wish themsuccess for their new ventures.
TF-YS WELCOMES OUR NEW CORE MEMBERS
Giulia M. Sancesario (IT), University Hospital of Tor
Vergata, Rome, Italy, Chair of Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology (SIBioC) Working Group of Young Scientists (YS-WG).
My current research is in the field of translational medicine, in the discovery and validation of novel biomarkers in complex diseases.

Joe El-Khoury (US)Giulia M. Sancesario (IT)Ashlin Rampul (ZA)

Article continued on next page17

Since 2017 I have been the Chair of the SIBioC Young
Scientists working group (SIBioC-YS). Promoting thedevelopment of cooperation mechanisms and training programs among young specialists in laboratory
medicine is a fundamental challenge for scientific societies. Furthermore, the strength of young scientists
is a precious resource that must grow.
Joe El-Khoury (US), Co-Director of the Clinical Chemistry laboratory and fellowship program at Yale-New
Haven Health and Assistant Professor of Laboratory
Medicine at Yale University in New Haven, CT, USA.
His research interests include mass spectrometry
methods, pre-analytical errors, as well as the markers
of kidney disease.
Ashlin Rampul (ZA), is training to become a chemicalpathologist and he is a registrar/resident in Chemical
Pathology in the department of Chemical Pathology,
University of Pretoria and National Health Laboratory
service.

He holds a Bachelor of Medical Science Hons degree(cum laude) and a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor ofSurgery degree (MBChB) (equivalent to US MD degree). He holds various leadership positions within
his community. His major interests are to extend thementorship programme across the African continent
especially because of the great need to develop science in disadvantaged communities within the African continent.
We hope to achieve new success stories with “TEAM
TF-YS”.
For more details, see: http://www.ifcc.org/task-forceyoung-scientists-web-pages/.
Thanks,Dr. Pradeep KUMAR DABLAIFCC TF-YS Chair
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry,
G.B. Pant Institute of Postgraduate
Medical Education & Research (GIPMER), India

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18

CONTRIBUTE TO IFCC eNEWS
Artificial Intelligence, open digital resources and open scienceby Bernard Gouget
Chair, IFCC Committee on Mobile Health andBioengineering in Laboratory Medicine (C-MHBLM)
SFBC-International Committee
General Secretary of the International
Francophone Federation of Clinical Biology
and Laboratory Medicine (FIFBCML)
Counselor for Public Health-FHF
Chair, Human Health Care Committee-COFRAC
volume of data, ethical and legal challenges to protect
personal data and especially the challenge of trust to
persuade and overcome reluctance.
AI has become everyone’s business. Digital technology
allows a collaborative approach and better information, available everywhere, at any time. The capacitiesof the laboratory medicine specialist are increased.
They are better equipped to analyze and make decisions, closer to the patient and to the professionallygreat days to come.
Bernard Gouget

Updating and improving the interpretation of images,
predicting treatment response, drawing on genetic
data to better understand disease, developing predictive and preventative medicine via genome sequencing algorithms, building data bases of previously inaccessible wealth, all things that Artificial Intelligence(AI) was made possible via improving computer calculation capacities and the progress on the part of AI,
using neural networks and their ability to learn.
Digital transformation has become an essential lever
for the transformation of the health system and theincrease of efficiency and quality.
This revolution assumes quick renewal of health professional training and practice. It simultaneously poses technical and technological challenges due to the

The challenge is to truly improve diagnostic strategies
and therapeutic choices and to be more available tothe patient and clinician at the same time. In the past,
it was necessary to consult a collection of works before issuing a hypothesis, producing data and finallyanalyzing them. Today, the logic is reversed: we try to
make sense of a gigantic set of data as well as test their
meaning. The paradigm is evolving, and an awarenessis needed on the part of biologists and researchers:
that of understanding new issues arising from big
data and their various aspects. Analyzing these data iscomplex and requires specific interdisciplinary expertise. AI is done with trained brains, so the training ofa new generation of scientists with a “health-mathematics” interface becomes a major challenge as muchas the need for large high-performance storage andcomputing centers, platforms whose role is not just
Article continued on next page19

to host and archive data but also to ensure the standardization thereof.
Digital technology in general will transform the working methods of the youngest and oldest researchers
alike. We no longer have to pay to access scientificarticles. The open access movement is trying to remedy this by putting forth a model where scientific articles are accessible to everyone. Open science is linked
to a generational change. Digital technology takes on
an increasingly important role in the collection of research processes and in the researcher’s workflow.
We slowly arrive at a general movement of researchers training in open science, big data and open data.
On the European scale, there is the Foster initiative(Facilitate Open Science To European Research) whichseeks to establish training in this field. Open science
presents various aspects: free access to scientific publications (open access), open data, open source software and participative and contributive research. For
example, the accessibility of software whose development cost is sometimes exorbitant allows also non-researchers to be involved. This concept is encompassed
by a particularly attractive term for young generations: open science, open data and open knowledge.
This open spirit and culture also aligns the role andparticipation of patients in their care pathway and research processes. Open science is therefore a particularly broad concept that allows rallying a large numberof stakeholders. Open data is part of this. Big data, inreturn, is not necessarily open.

The question is knowing whether open means betterscience. Each emergent practice brings its own economic challenges with potential detours. Open data
obviously poses ethical questions from the angle ofpersonal data. Open access is a new market, facing
challenges of information quality and new quality
control protocols remain to be created. Open sciencecertainly aims for a greater efficacy and a better ideaof science.
Currently all countries that wish to be included in innovation are developing AI programs. Data has become a major player for understanding, anticipating
and resolving major political, economic, social andscientific issues. Data also transform our professional
practices, our cultural environment, the way we live
our daily lives, even going as far as restructuring ourway of thinking.
Science is a common good and a factor for collectiveenrichment that we should share as widely as possible. It has become vital to generalize open access topublications, to structure and open up research datawhen it is reasonably compliant with legal and ethicalrequirements and to be part of a sustainable European and international dynamic. Open science is not atechnical evolution, but a profound paradigm change,
which involves changes at different levels of scientificprocesses, both upstream and downstream. It constitutes an opportunity to improve research itself as wellas its collaborative aspect and its relationship with society. Open science is the ideal vehicle for knowledge
in the face of rumors!

News from the IFCC Website
Diagnóstico in Vitro - Febrero 2019
Enjoy the contents of the new DIAGNÓSTICO IN VITRO February issue. Empezamos
con nuestro primer número de la revista electrónica DIV y presentamos el “Documento de consenso sobre la utilización de Troponina cardiaca en Urgencias”; el libro“Hemostasia práctica en el laboratorio clínico” de la Sociedad Española de Medicina de Laboratorio; dos artículos de investigación que abarcan diferentes campos;
un estudio de jóvenes investigadores; Cartas al Director; noticias de las sociedades
y mucho más! In this issue the IFCC WG-IANT confirms its commitment to advanceexcellence in laboratory medicine for better healthcare worldwide in Latin America.
Read more

20

UNIFY GREATERFOR SOMETHING

Announcing the 1st Annual UNIVANTS of Healthcare Excellence Award,celebrating teams of UNIFIERS who have applied AVANT-GARDE
approaches to achieve measurably better healthcare outcomes.

Learn more and apply for the UNIVANTS of Healthcare Excellence Award at UnivantsHCE.com.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

© 2018 Abbott Laboratories

21

NEWS FROM REGIONAL FEDERATIONS AND MEMBER SOCIETIESNews from the Indonesian Associationof Clinical Chemistry (IACC)
IACC activities in 2018

WORK CONFERENCE AND SEMINAR,
SANUR DENPASAR BALI, 19 -21 JULY 2018
“DRIVING IMPACTS IN LABORATORY MEDICINE“
After the completion of the Human Genome Project,
the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases began to enter a new stage, namely Next Generation
Medicine based on Precision Medicine. All medical
aspects, including the clinical laboratory are required
to follow these developments.
These changes include exploration and developmentof various new biomarkers based on genomics, transcriptomics or proteomics as well as refinement of
the inspection methodology for the implementationof improved Quality Assurance qualifications as goodlaboratory standards.
The Indonesian Association for Clinical Chemistry, as
a forum for experts who have clinical chemistry competency in developing laboratory aspects, has the responsibility to initiate and participate in this change
in Indonesia.
For this reason, it has been necessary to organize awork conference with symposia and workshops, inorder to mediate, initiate and synchronize the renewal of knowledge by various experts from acrossIndonesia.

Board members of IACC and Congress Chairwoman
after Work Conference in Bali, 21 July 2018

Article continued on next page22

In the work conference, we held symposia and workshops where the development of issues on reproduction, infections, geriatrics and oncology and various
other disciplines were discussed in line with the renewal of diagnosis and treatment based on Next Generation Medicine.
SEMINAR AND WORKSHOP MOLECULARDIAGNOSTIC - JAKARTA, 30 NOVEMBER 2018
IACC in cooperation with Indonesian Association ofClinical Pathologist and Laboratory Medicine (IACP)
held a Seminar and Workshop on Molecular diagnostics with Applications of PCR to Infection andCancer. The Seminar participants were around 100
people, Clinical Pathologist Doctors, Lab Scientists
and Medical Technologists. The Workshop participants were 26 people.
Seminar: Basic Molecular Diagnostics
Moderator: Dr. Sri Hartini, SpPK(K), MARS
1. Introduction to Molecular Diagnostics:
From Cell to DNA
Speaker: Dr. Lyana Setiawan, SpPK
2. The Key Concept of Nucleic Acid Extraction
Speaker: Dr. Yusra, SpPK, PhD
3. Conventional and Real Time PCR
Speaker: Dr. Dennis Jacobus, SpPK
4. Application of PCR in Infectious Disease
Speaker: Dr. Dewi Lokida, SpPK

Some of the participants and facilitators portrayedafter the workshop Session of Basic Molecular Diagnostics

5. Application of PCR in Cancer
Speaker: Dr. Demak L Tobing, SpPK
6. Standardization and Quality Control in MolecularDiagnostics
Speaker: Miswar Fattah, SSi, MBiomed, PhD
Workshop
1. Introduction
2. DNA Isolation
3. RNA Isolation
4. Automatic RNA extraction and PCR
5. HPV genotyping
6. Interpretation of Real-Time PCR Results
WORKSHOP TOTAL VALUE OWNERSHIP
IACC held a Workshop on Laboratory Managementwith the topic “Total Value Ownership”. The speaker was Patrick Gontard Group CEO, Labexa Group,France; CEO and Founder, Gontard and Cie, Switzerland. The Workshop was held in cooperation with
Abbott Diagnostics in Jakarta. We invited some Clinical Laboratory CEOs, COOs and Managers to discuss about business aspects of Clinical Laboratory.
In today’s healthcare environment, leaders are increasingly asked to demonstrate value in terms of operational and clinical care excellence across their healthcare institutions. The clinical laboratory is viewed as animportant contributor to key performance indicators,

Some participants gathered with Mr. Gontard
after the workshop

Article continued on next page23

and as a result, laboratory managers want to maximize
the value that the laboratory brings to their institutions.
The concept of Total Value of Ownership (TVO) considers all aspects of a laboratory’s processes andequipment and identifies areas where improvements
can be made to maximize value. When the laboratory delivers services to its full potential, it can help improve outcomes system-wide, enabling the institution
to make a positive impact on patient outcomes.

News from the Malaysian Associationof Clinical Biochemists (MACB)
APFCB-MACB Statistics Workshop
14 January 2019 – Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia
by Raja Elina Raja Aziddin
MACB President
IFCC MACB National representative
Drug & Research Lab, Pathology Department
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The MACB organised an APFCB-MACB Statistics Workshop on 14th January 2019 in Premiera Hotel, Kuala
Lumpur. Lectures were delivered by Dr. Tony Badrick
from Australia and Dr. Loh Tze Ping from Singapore.
Topics covered were basic statistics, linear regression,
method evaluation, uncertainty of measurement, reference intervals, six sigma, diagnostic sensitivity andspecificity. The workshop was attended by 150 local
participants. The workshop received very good feedback from participants.

The MACB also organised the APFCB-MACB Chemical Pathology Course on 15-16 January 2019 in Premiera Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The course is an intermediary course in Chemical Pathology and it is thethird in the series. The course was coordinated by Dr
Tony Badrick, Chair of the APFCB committee for Education and Laboratory Management and consists oflectures and case studies. Topics covered were boneand mineral markers, cardiac markers and CVD, pituitary function, liver disease, reproductive hormones,

Participants at the APFCB-MACB Statistics Workshop on 14th January 2019 in Premiera Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Article continued on next page24

prolactin and macro prolactin, enzymes, HCG measurement, GIT function, chromatography, pre-analytical factors affecting test results, interferencesin immunoassay, circulating DNA, nucleic acid techniques, natriuretic peptide, biological investigationof abnormal growth, urine and fluid analysis. Lectures were delivered by Dr. Tony Badrick (Australia),
Dr. Loh Tze Ping (Singapore) as well as local speakers

including Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asmah Hamid, Prof. Pavai
Sthaneshwar, Prof. Dr. Nor Fadilah Rajab, Malarvili Ramachandran, Dr. Nurul Farhana Jufri, Raja Dr.
Elina Raja Aziddin and Dr Farah Wahida Ibrahim.
The course was attended by 120 local participants.
Participants found the course very informative andbeneficial and have requested a similar course to be
conducted next year.

MACB Council and Organising Committee of the APFCB-MACB Chemical Pathology Course
L-R: Sivasangkari Supremaniam, Tunku Marinah Ashraf Tunku Abdullah, Raja Dr. Elina Raja Aziddin,
Dr. Tony Badrick, Malarvili Ramachandran, Chuo Pek Ham and Roziela A.Bakar

News from the IFCC Website
The IFCC C-CB Tables
The IFCC Committee on Clinical Applications of Cardiac
Bio-Markers (C-CB) has updated the set of tables on the analytical characteristics of contemporary, point of care (POC)
and high sensitivity (hs) cardiac troponin I and T assays, aswell as natriuretic peptide assays. The IFCC C-CB plans to
update these tables quarterly. The cardiac troponin tables
are referenced in the Fourth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction (2018) recommendations paper.
							Read more

25

News from the Japanese Societyof Clinical Chemistry (JSCC)
Technology Award of JSCC 2018
by Hideo Sakamotoand Shu-Ping HuiInternational Exchange Committee of JSCC
The Technology Award of Japan Society of Clinical
Chemistry (JSCC) is given annually to companies who
have made progress in clinical chemistry. Four winners
received the JSCC Technology Award in 2018. The
award presentation ceremony was held at the 58th
Annual Meeting of JSCC in Nagoya, Japan, on August24-26, 2018. During the presentation, the award recipients were congratulated by Dr. Masato Maekawa,president of JSCC for their contribution to the advancement of clinical chemistry.
In this issue, we would like to introduce briefly thewinners of the JSCC Technology Award and their outstanding work.
Kaori Morota, PhD, works in Scientific Affairs, Abbott
Japan Co., Ltd. The title of her awarded work is “Development and clinical application of AKI biomarker
urinary NGAL”. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome
which has a broad range of etiologic factors depending
on different clinical settings. Because AKI has significant impacts on prognosis in any clinical setting, early detection and intervention is necessary to improve
the outcome of AKI patients.
Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin(NGAL) is a useful biomarker for early diagnosis of AKI,
differentiation of pre-renal AKI from renal AKI, and prediction of the AKI severity and mortality. In the clinicalperformance evaluation with Japanese patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), urinary NGAL
values of the AKI patients on admission were significantly higher than those of non-AKI patients. Since
urinary NGAL test was covered by public insurance inFebruary 2017, its clinical application has been started
mainly at emergency department, ICU, and division ofnephrology and metabolism. By deciding treatment

approach for AKI patients based on urinary NGAL value in conjunction with other data such as symptoms
and results of other tests, it would be expected in the
future to reduce length(s) of hospital stay and ICU stay,and to improve renal outcome and mortality.
Naofumi Yoda, MS works in the Scientific Marketing
Department, LSI Medience Corporation. The title of
his awarded work is “Development of the rapid assay
system of presepsin, a sepsis biomarker using CLEIA
technology”. Sepsis is organ dysfunctions caused by
infectious diseases and early detection and prompt
treatment are encouraged by the guidelines. Because
blood culture test, which is thought as a gold standardof infections, is of low sensitivity and time-consuming,a new biomarker for early diagnosis of sepsis had beenlong awaited. Presepsin is a novel sepsis biomarker,
found in Japan, whose concentration in blood is increased specifically in sepsis patients. In vitro experi­ments showed that phagocytosis without any gene
expression is one of the production mechanisms ofpresepsin, which explained the prompt elevation ofpresepsin after the onset of infection. The reagent ofpresepsin for the PATHFAST, a compact automated instrument has been developed.
This reagent makes it possible to measure presepsini) with high sensitivity, ii) easily, iii) at bed side, iv) ina very short time (within 17 min). PATHFAST Presepsin was approved in Japan with a reimbursement in2014, and it is recommended to be measured for severe stage patients as an aid of diagnosis of sepsis in
the latest version of Japanese guidelines for sepsis(Strength of recommendation: 2B). PATHFAST Presepsin is now used in countries all over the world, including some Asian countries. This rapid assay system of
Article continued on next page26

JSCC Technology Award presentation ceremony at 58th Annual Meeting of JSCC
in Nagoya, Japan: award recipients, along with Dr. Masato Maekawa, President of JSCC

presepsin is expected to contribute for decreasingmortality caused by sepsis.
Tomohide Tsuda, PhD and Xiuri Jin, PhD work in the
Immunology and MDx Unit, R&D Center, Shino-Test
Corporation. The title of their awarded work is “Development of novel methodology and assay systems
for protein S.” Protein S deficiency is classified into
three types, all of which are risk factors for venous
thromboembolism (VTE) in Japanese people. Amongthe three types of protein S abnormalities, type II deficiency is characterized by a normal level of protein S
and reduced levels of protein S activity. Approximately
2% of the ethnic Japanese population carries a genetic mutation known as protein S-Tokushima, a variant
showing decreased activity as a cofactor of activatedprotein C. This mutation is a major cause of type II deficiency. Because these carriers are more likely to develop VTE than non-carriers, according to their odds
ratios of 3.7–8.6, measurement of protein S may be auseful diagnostic tool for VTE risk assessment. However, accurate diagnosis of type II deficiency has proven difficult by conventional methods. Recently, Tsuda et al. developed assay systems for total protein S
activity and total protein S mass. These assays reveal
the specific activity of protein S, enabling detectionof type II protein S deficiency. The specific activity ofprotein S is determined as the ratio of total protein S
activity to total protein S mass, and type II deficiency
is known to show a low specific activity.
Using their novel method, 57 patients with various
clinical backgrounds were analyzed for their specificactivities and the cut-off value, calculated from thereceiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, was
0.78. When healthy volunteers were screened, 6 of
238 individuals showed specific activities below the
cut-off value. After obtaining consent, two of these
individuals were subjected to further genetic analysis, which revealed the protein S-Tokushima variant.
Article continued on next page27

Furthermore, when 19 individuals with a confirmed
Tokushima variant gene were tested, the specific activities of all subjects were less than 0.78. Analysis ofprotein S specific activity can be used to detect protein S-Tokushima with high sensitivity and specificity.
Because VTE is life-threatening, understanding therisks of individuals, especially borderline populations
such as pregnant women and perioperative patients,
and taking preventive measures for them are important. It is also important to ensure rapid diagnosis
and treatment for VTE patients. New diagnostic kits
for evaluating the specific activity of protein S specific can be used to screen easily and quickly not only
for abnormalities in protein S activity and mass, butalso for mutations such as protein S Tokushima in theroutine setting of clinical testing. This system can beclinically applied for the prevention, diagnosis, andintervention of VTE.
Satoshi Kojima, PhD works in the CL New ProductDevelop Department, FUJIREBIO INC. The title of hisawarded work is “Development of Lumipulse 25-OH
Vitamin D.” 25-OH vitamin D (25-OHD) assay is widelyused for the monitoring of the status for vitamin D
in human blood. Immunoassays are routinely used

for the quantification of 25-OHD in each hospital or
clinical laboratory today. FUJIREBIO INC. developed afully automated 25-OHD immunoassay, “Lumipulse
G 25-OH Vitamin D” based on novel non-competitive immunoassay. Sandwich assay has theoreticallyadvantages of specificity and/or sensitivity against
conventional competitive format. However, a competitive assay on the detection of hapten molecules
is generally chosen because of the circumvention ofsteric hindrance of two antibodies. They establisheda quite unique anti-metatype antibody, which recognizes the immunocomplex between 25-OHD and its
monoclonal antibody. The use of this antibody permitted to construct the non-competitive assay forthe detection of 25-OHD.
The assay showed good performance regarding sensitivity and reproducibility in wide range. Moreover,the measurement value was well correlated with IDLC-MS/MS, recognized as a reference measurement
procedure by the JCTLM. The conventional assay
for hapten molecule sometimes limits the dynamic range, accuracy or reproducibility. The use of ananti-metatype antibody might achieve sustainable
performance improvement.

News from the Finnish Societyof Clinical Chemistry (FSCC)LABQUALITY Days
7-8 February 2019 – Helsinki, Finland
by Jonna Pelanti
Secretary, The Finnish Society of Clinical Chemistry
The Finnish Society of Clinical Chemistry is the largest
single owner of Labquality, the Finnish, independent
service company focused on quality assuranceof medical laboratories and point of care testing.
Labquality organizes annually a large international
congress on quality in laboratory medicine in Helsinki
in February and the Finnish Society of Clinical Chemistry has a role in planning the program.

around the world as well. The themes of 2019 were
“Quality Control reinvented?” and “Digital Health”.

The congress brings medical laboratory and quality
management professionals together to enjoy thehigh-quality lectures and to meet colleagues from

Following this, Tony Badrick (RCPAQAP, Australia)presented his ideas on the future of performing IQC
and EQA with the help of mathematical parameters.

On the first day, Labquality Days presented speakers
from all over the world to discuss quality control in
the future. Sten Westgard (Westgard Quality Control,
USA) pondered whether there are Westgard rules in
the future or not.

Article continued on next page28

Vincent Delatour (LNE, France) discussed the need forcommutable certified reference materials to be usedin EQA schemes and Marc Thelen (SKML, Netherlands) showed their multi-sample approach.
Anja Kessler (Referenzinstitut for Bioanalytik, Germany) analysed the present and future of EQA and
Hassan Bayat (Shahid Beheshti University of Medical
Sciences, Iran) instructed the participants on the Max
E(Nuf) quality control model and the need of understanding the required frequency in the laboratories
QC planning.
New acquaintances were made during the breaks andespecially at the get together cocktail party after the
first day. It was nice to see busy mingling taking place
and to hear the vivid discussions between the lecturers and the participants painting mental pictures of
the quality control procedures of the future.
On the second day, the topics and the discussion moved
towards future and new solutions around Digital Health.
Anu Jalanko (Institute for Molecular Medicine, Finland)
showed how genomic information is utilized now and
how it should be used in the future and Markus Perola (National institute for Health and Welfare, Finland)gave examples of scientific discoveries encouraged by
the Finnish biobank.
Also new information and experiences regarding fast
fluid exchange technology was shared with the audience by Saska Brajkovic, representing Lunaphore
Technologies SA.
Sten Westgard took the floor for the second time todescribe the quite unbelievable case of the rise andfall of a 9-billion-dollar diagnostic disrupter company.
Vilmundur Gudnasson (University of Iceland) showed
information on the new risk assessment tools to identify individuals with atherosclerotic disease and thelast session was presented by Sami Blom (Fimmic,
Finland) about the empowering tool, deep learning AI
offers to the pathologists.
To summarize the two successful days, the lectures
were of excellent scientific quality and the audience
also had the privilege to hear the presenters in a panel discussion about quality control, which was held on
the first day. The speakers' calibre was impressive andthey gave their insights in great detail into upcomingchanges in laboratory segments quality in the nearand further future.

Mia Lindström, CEO of Labquality, opens the 2019 Congress Sten Westgard, one of the prestigious lecturers of this year

29

SERBIS: building a bridge of knowledge
between East and West
3rd and 4th SERbian BIomarker Symposium- SERBIS 2018 by Sanja Stankovic
Director of Center for Medical Biochemistry
Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
SCLM President
EFLM Task Group: Cardiac Markers
eJIFCC Editorial Board Member
General Secretary of European Societyof Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Therapy
3rd and 4th SERbian BIomarker Symposium (SERBIS
2018) (www.serbis.rs) with the overall theme ‘Men’sand Women’s Health: Biomarkers in Clinical Practiceand Future Approaches’ was held on 5 - 8 June 2018
in Belgrade (Serbia).
This international symposium was organized by theCenter for Medical Biochemistry and Serbian Society
for Clinical Laboratory Medicine and Science (SCLM),
supported by several Serbian clinical societies. It wasorganized under the auspices of IFCC, EFLM, ESPT,
Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, Scienceand Technological Development of Republic of Serbia,
and under honorary patronage of TRH Crown Prince
Alexander and Princess Katherine Karadjordjevic. The
four days symposium included 30 foreign (from 17 different countries) and 30 Serbian expert speakers who
presented their lectures and it was attended by 1702
health care professionals from Serbia and abroad.

This international symposium was arranged to bring
together clinicians, clinical chemists, biologists, pathologists, geneticians, scientists, to bridge clinicaland laboratory work, emphasizing the importance of
teamwork and interactions between professionalsof various disciplines involved in improving women’s
and men’s health across their life cycle and to build
a partnership based on a common goal-reducing
morbidity, improving patient care and increasing life
span, brightening the health futures for women andmen in the 21st century.
The symposium was inaugurated by the SCLM President and symposium director Asst. Prof. Sanja Stankovic. The official opening included a welcome addressby Prof. Howard Morris-IFCC President, SERBIS honorary presidents Prof. Philippe Gillery (FRA) and Prof.
Mauro Panteghini (ITA), a welcome on behalf of the
Ministry of Health Republic of Serbia, Serbian HealthCouncil, and Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Article continued on next page

30

The greatest honour to the SERBIS 2018 was made by
the attendance and addressing of HRH Crown Princess
Katherine of Serbia during the opening ceremony. In
the end of the opening ceremony, charter award andthe statue of SERBIS 2018 was delivered to the honorable Presidents of the SERBIS 2019, Prof. Howard
Morris (AUS) and Prof. Joris Delanghe (BEL), in recognition of their outstanding contribution toward thesuccess of this symposium, followed by a show by themost famous Serbian dance troupe, Una Saga Serbica.
By combining well-known folk rhythms, words, notes,
colours and people, Una Saga Serbica presented in aunique way, the beauty of the Balkans, its history, heri­tage, culture and generated a new local culture and a
new form of artistic communication.
With such a momentous opening ceremony, it was
clear that the SERBIS2018 was going to be packed fullof inspiring, field-changing advances from the laboratory medicine sphere.

facing non-communicable diseases in a gender-dependent manner and Emotional intelligence: Men vs.
Women.
In addition to exhibition booths by companies working in laboratory medicine, the scientific programmeof the congress was diverse and included workshops
and lectures covering various topics in laboratory
medicine.
With the idea to support education and expanding thehorizons of colleagues who work in the field, in theclosing ceremony, a clinical chemist - lucky winner of
SERBIS2018, was awarded with the registration fee for
the EuroMedLab 2019.
SERBIS 2018 was a great success! We hope to see you
all again on SERBIS 2019 on March 26-28, 2019! Outspoken, adventurous, proud and audacious Belgrade(‘White City’) waits for you with its gritty exuberance
that makes it one of Europe’s most full of events cities.

Four days programme, divided into 13 sessions, provided participants with an overview of the impactof biomarkers and genomics on the current state ofmen’s and women’s health. Lectures covered following topics: male and female infertility, IVF, non-invasive prenatal testing, critical, evidence-based look at
the efficacy of new biomarkers for preeclampsia andhow they are challenging medical practice, pregnancy
health, neonatal screening, bone diseases, women’scancers (breast, ovarian and cervical cancer), benign/malignant prostate disease and testicular cancer,
menopause, and differences in risk between males
and females for shared diseases (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc.).
For the first time, in 2018, SERBIS introduced practical sessions, rediscovering laboratory and clinical aspects of urinalysis through the world-famous experts’lectures, who covered preanalytics in urinalysis, theurine sediment and practical teaching, urinary flow
cytometry analysis and specific urinary proteins.
The symposium was finished by unravelling taboos.
During SERBIS, breaking taboos session participants
listened about gender identity disorder form, the interface of systems medicine and sexual medicine for

Speakers at the SERBIS 201831

IFCC'S CALENDAR OF CONGRESSES, CONFERENCES & EVENTS
Calendar of IFCC Congresses/Conferences
and Regional Federations' Congresses

May 19 - 23, 2019

XXIII IFCC - EFLM EuroMedLab
Barcelona 2019

Barcelona, ES

Sep 10 - 13, 2019

COLABIOCLI Regional Congress 2019Panama, PA

Sep 26 - 28, 2019

AFCC Regional Congress

Nov 17 - 20, 2019

APFCB Regional Congress 2019

Jaipur, IN

May 24 - 28, 2020

XXIV IFCC WorldLab
Seoul 2020

Seoul, KR

May 16 - 20, 2021

XXIV IFCC - EFLM EuroMedLab
Munich 2021

Munich, DE

Marrakesh, MA

Calendar continued on next page32

XXV IFCC - EFLM WorldLab
EuroMedLab - Rome 2023

May 21 - 25, 2023

Rome, IT

Calendar of events with IFCC auspices
Feb 23 - Dec 31,
2019

Bolivian Continuing Education Program (PROBOECO)of the Bolivian Society of Clinical Biochemistry

Mar 13, 2019

Conducting Research in Laboratory Medicine- An Online Interactive Session with Experts

Karachi, PK

Mar 14 - 16, 2019

VIIIth Congress of the Syndicate of Clinical Biologists of Lebanon,
VIIIth Days of the International Francophone Federation of Clinical
Biology and Laboratory Medicine

Beirut, LB

Mar 15 - 17, 2019

XXII Congreso Nacional para el Análisis de la Garantía de la Calidad
en el Laboratorio ClínicoSan Juan del Río,
Querétaro, MX

Mar 21 - 23, 2019

Annual academic sessions for doctors and workshop
on medical laboratory science

Colombo, LK

Mar 22 - 23, 2019

5th EFLM European Conference on Preanalytical Phase“Preanalytical Challenges - time for solutions”

Zagreb, HR

Mar 26 - 28, 2019

Serbian Biomarker Symposium (SERBIS) 2019
- Nutrition biomarkers for disease prevention

Belgrad, SRB

Mar 28 - 29, 2019

XVII Meeting of the SEQCML Scientific Committee

Madrid, ES

Apr 4 - 5, 2019

10th European Symposium on Clinical Laboratory
and In Vitro Diagnostic Industry: ‘The Clinical Laboratory
in the Pregnancy Monitoring'

Barcelona, ES

Apr 5, 2019

Cardiac Marker Dialogues

Glasgow, UK

Apr 11 - 12, 2019

The 15th Belgrade Symposium for Balkan Region

Belgrade, SRB

Apr 18 - 21, 2019

The 12th International & 17th National Congress
on Quality Improvement in Clinical Laboratories

Tehran, IR

Apr 19 - 20, 2019

International Congress of Laboratory Medicine in Kazakhstan

Almaty City, KZ

Apr 25 - 27, 2019

32th Biology National Days

Hammamet, TN

Different cities,
BO

Calendar continued on next page

33

May 1 - 3, 2019

Focus 2019 – Annual Meeting of the ACB

Glasgow, UK

May 18, 2019

VII International Symposium Laboratory Medicine and Quality- Satellite Meeting IFCC-EFLM EUROMEDLAB 2019

Barcelona, ES

May 19, 2019

International Symposium: Standardization and Recommendationsin the Laboratory of Haematology - Satellite Meeting IFCC-EFLM
EUROMEDLAB 2019

Barcelona, ES

May 19, 2019

International Symposium : Breast Cancer and Environment- Satellite Meeting IFCC-EFLM EUROMEDLAB 2019

Barcelona, ES

Jun 2 - 5, 2019

CSCC 2019 Annual ConferenceSaint John, CA

Jun 5 - 7, 2019

The 3rd Conference of Romanian Associationof Laboratory Medicine (RALM)

Iași, ROThe 23rd International Conference on Laboratory Medicine
Jun 29 - Jul 3, 2019 and Pathobiology: An expert forum in clinicaland laboratory sciences

Chios Island, GR

Sep 9 - 14, 2019

XLIII Congreso Nacional de Químicos Clinicos y Expoquim

Mexico City, MX

Sep 10 - 13, 2019

XXIV Congreso Latinoamericano de Bioquímica Clínica
(COLABIOCLI) and XIV Congreso Nacional de Laboratoristas
Clínicos de Panamá

Panama City, PA

Sep 25 - 27, 2019

Congreso Nacional Bioquímico CUBRA XV 2019

Chaco, AR

Sept 26 - 28, 2019

LMCE 2019 and KSLM 60th Annual Meeting

Busan, KR

Oct 3 - 4, 2019

CELME 2019

Prague, CZ

Oct 16 - 18, 2019

5th ESPT Congress – Precision Medicine and Personalized Health

Seville, ES

Oct 23, 2019

From Bench to Diagnostic-Therapeutic Pathways- Symposium Dedicated to the Memory of Professor Angelo Burlina

Padua, IT

Nov 1 - 4, 2019ISOBM Annual Conference 2019

Athens, GR

Nov 1 - 4, 201919 International Congress of the Colegio Nacional de Bacteriologia,
CNB Colombia

Bogotà, CO

Nov 6 - 8, 20193èmes Journėes Francophones de Biologie Médicale

Monaco, MC

Nov 7 - 9, 2019

The Value of Laboratory Medicine into Clinical Medicine

Erice, IT

Nov 28, 201913th International Scientific Meeting- The Internal Quality Control in the Traceability Era

Milan, IT

Jun 9 - 12, 2020

XXXVII Nordic Congress in Medical Biochemistry

Trondheim, NO

34

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Publisher
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EditorKatherina Psarra, MSc, PhD
Department of Immunology - Histocompatibility
Evangelismos Hospital, Athens, Greece
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