Society of medical biochemists of Serbia and Montenegro: 50 years anniversary
Authors: Majkic-Singh Nada 
Published: August 2005

Medical biochemistry (synonyms: clinical chemistry or clinical biochemistry) in the terms of professional and scientific discipline, stems from and/or has developed along with the natural sciences and its influences (mathematics, physics, chemistry and biochemistry) and medical sciences as well (physiology, genetics, cell biology). As a scientific discipline, medical biochemistry studies metabolic processes of physiological and pathological changes with humans and animals. Applying analytical chemistry's and biochemistry's techniques enables medical biochemists to gain plenty of information related to diagnosis and prognosis which serve physicians to asses the gravity of illness and prescribe healing therapy. Therefore medical biochemistry is an integral part of modern medicine. This discipline was dubbed various, often confusing names such as pathology, physiology, clinical biology, clinical pathology, chemical pathology, clinical biochemistry, medical biochemistry, clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine, all depending on place of origin. The official, internationally accepted name - clinical chemistry, was mentioned for the first time in 1912 by Johan Scherer, who described his laboratory as Clinical Chemistry Laboratory (Klinisch Chemische Laboratorium) in the hospital Julius in Wurzburg in Germany. After creating national societies of clinical chemists, Professor Earl J. King of Royal Postgraduate Medical School from London incited an initiative to unite national societies into the organization with worldwide character - it was the International Association of Clinical Biochemists, monitored by the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). On 24 July 1952 in Paris, a Second International Congress of Biochemistry was held. A year later, in Stockholm, the name of a newly formed association was altered into International Federation of Clinical Chemistry, which was officially accepted in 1955 in Brussels. Today this federation-s name is International Federation for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). Right after the World War II our medical biochemists began to gather within their expert societies. Even before 1950 Pharmaceutical Society of Serbia hosted laboratory experts among whom the most active were Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Damanski for bromatology, Prof. Dr. Momcilo Mokranjac for toxicology and Docent Dr. Pavle Trpinac for biochemistry. When the Managing Board of the Pharmaceutical Society of National Republic of Serbia held its session on 22 December 1950, an issue was raised with reference to creation of a Section that would gather together the laboratory experts. Section for Sanitary Chemistry, combining all three profiles of laboratory staff, i.e. medical biochemists, sanitary chemists and toxicologists, was founded on 1st of January 1951. On 15 May 1955, during the sixth plenum of the Society of Pharmaceutical Societies of Yugoslavia (SFRY) held in Split, the decision was passed to set up a Section for Medical Biochemistry in SFDJ. The Section for Medical Biochemistry in SFDJ was renamed into Society for Medical Biochemistry of SFDJ based on the decision passed during the 16th plenum of SFDJ, held on 15 May 1965 in Banja Luka. Pursuant to the decision passed by SMBY on 6 April 1995 and based on the historic data, 15 May was declared as being the official Day of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Yugoslavia. The purpose of YuSMB (currently SMBSCG) is to gather medical biochemists who would develop and enhance all the branches of medical biochemistry in health industry. Its tasks are as following: to standardize operations in clinical-biochemical laboratories, education of young biochemists on all levels, encouraging scientific research, setting up of working norms and implementation, execution and abiding by the ethics codices with health workers. SMBSCG is to promote the systemized standards in the field of medical biochemistry with the relevant federal and republican institutions. SMBSCG is to enable exchange of experiences of its members with the members of affiliate associations in the country and abroad. .