Dear Colleagues,
It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the special supplement issue of Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment presenting the proceedings of the Joint XXVIII Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation (BCLF) Meeting and XIII National Conference of the Bulgarian Society of Clinical Laboratory (BSCL), which was held in a hybrid form from 8 September to 11 September 2021, at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria. Unfortunately, unlike all previous years, this time our annual meeting was to take place a in unique situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the local organiser and host, the Bulgarian Society of Clinical Laboratory, had to employ special efforts to overcome the challenging problems and restrictions as much as possible, including one year of postponement.
The Meeting was held under the auspices of the European Federation of Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) and the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC&LM). The Meeting Organising and Scientific Committees reflect not only the regional but also the truly international character of the event. Under the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic we were happy to welcome 133 Colleagues onsite, and another 141 online participants. Thus the total number of 274 attendees was relatively lower compared to previous BCLF meetings, but still considered sufficiently representative for our regional event. There was an onsite laboratory for rapid SARS CoV2 antigen testing for all unvaccinated attendees and staff inside the Convention centre. Even though some of our colleagues were not able to participate, we should state that everyone in the meeting felt deeply the warm and friendly atmosphere and enjoyed the scientific spirit of the event which was very rewarding both socially and professionally. Therefore we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all members of the Organizing and Scientific committees, and especially to the perfect professional work of the CIC team, the Company for International Congresses, for having courteously provided all help, hospitality and supreme technical support to bring this meeting to life and success. The venue of the XXVIII BCLF Meeting – Sofia, is the capital of Bulgaria, the country that played a key role in the inauguration of the Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation, and has supported its permanent growth and strength to a regional association of nine national laboratory societies from all Balkan countries. We are now extremely pleased that BCLF has become a regional factor recognized as a scientific and professional institution fully integrated in the European and World professional laboratory medicine organizations, namely EFLM, and IFCC&LM.
The content of all abstracts underwent rigid peer-review by expert reviewers, which was coordinated by the organizer according to rules meeting the generally accepted international scientific standards, while the full-length papers were evaluated according the peer-review system of journal Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment.
The Meeting hybrid approach, onsite in Sofia and online, allowed present and virtual speakers and attendants to participate simultaneously. The two-and-a-half-day program was fully delivered with not a single presentation missed. The main goal of the meeting was to bring together colleagues from all Balkan countries, to introduce them to leading regional and international researchers, world leaders, industry professionals and other relevant experts, to discuss and update the research strategies, the technological and clinical progress in the field of laboratory medicine and its implementation in clinical practice. For this reason the scientific program encompassed a vast spectrum of topics delivered in 6 plenary lectures, 8 Symposia with 30 oral presentations, 4 Industrial scientific sessions with 12 reports, and 43 posters electronically available for all participants on the site of the Meeting.
During the opening ceremony we were delighted to see prof. Stoyan Danev, one of the founding fathers of BCLF and its first president, who in his emotional speech reminisced the enthusiasm of the inaugurators, and the first scientific, professional and friendship building steps on the way to a nowadays grown and mature Federation. Prof. Khosrow Adeli, current president of IFCC&LM, delivered live in Sofia the opening lecture entitled ‘Technological Advances in Laboratory Medicine: Predicting the Lab of the Future’ which became the best possible beginning of the event. Professor Adeli highlighted the special place and role of laboratory medicine as a highway for research scientific advancements to enter clinical practice, and as a major driver of the technological transfer in medicine. Medical laboratory is integral for almost all clinical disciplines and provides objective data to clinical decisions on prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and disease management. In addition to advances in automation for routine chemistry and haematology, prof. Adeli pointed out the revolutionizing role of nucleic acid amplification techniques, of mass spectrometry and of nuclear magnetic resonance, as technologies that open new horizons for much deeper understanding of disease mechanisms, with potential for enormous impact on patient care. His full-length paper is published in this issue of the journal. In his second lecture prof. Adeli reviewed the emerging role of artificial intelligence (AI), AI-powered electronic applications and machine learning for the medical diagnostics data management.
The first plenary was delivered online by prof. Maurizio Ferrari, past president of IFCC&LM. His topic was devoted to the recent advances and the future potential of next generation sequencing – biotechnology that is ‘rapidly changing the landscape of genetic diagnostics, providing the ability to answer questions with heretofore unimaginable speed’ and utmost clinical importance. Prof. Ferrari gave another lecture devoted to the utilization of liquid profiling for cancer management in which he reviewed the role of circulating tumour DNA and circulating tumour cells as a liquid biopsy specimen which could lead to better understanding of cancer biology, diagnosis, management, and treatment. The second plenary lecture was devoted to the systematically neglected, poorly understood and critically important problem in laboratory diagnostics – the pre-analytical variability. In this online presentation prof. Giuseppe Lippi, secretary of EFLM, clustered medical errors into four categories each of which could be affected by laboratory errors, among which ‘lack of standardized procedures for sample collection, including patient preparation, specimen acquisition, handling and storage, account for up to 93% of the errors currently encountered within the entire diagnostic process’. Prof. Lippi presented another lecture focussed on the assessment of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin immunoassays beyond the diagnosis of myocardial infarction as an emerging independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality.
Further, in the third plenary lecture, prof. Sverre Sandberg, former EFLM president, presented live in Sofia an update on the establishment and utility of biological variation data, and the application of the evidence based database of the EFLM Task Group on biological variation for better estimates of analytical performance, reference change values, as well as for the introduction of personal reference intervals. In another lecture prof. Sandberg, acting president of EPNET (European Porphyria Network Association), presented an overview of the essential role of laboratory medicine in the diagnosis and management of porphyrias.
The fourth plenary lecture was devoted to a challenging problem for the future practice of laboratory medicine, namely how to find the right balance between the flood of new technologies and professionalism. In this topic, prof. Mario Plebani advocated the need for substantial revolution in the organization of clinical laboratories and promoted the developed ‘manifesto’ of laboratory medicine encouraging the establishment of a new generation of laboratory professionals and managers, taking the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. In the field of cardiology prof. Plebany reviewed the place of high sensitivity cardiac troponins in regard their biological variation, circadian rhythm and diagnostic algorithms. In one of the industrial scientific sessions prof. Plebany emphasized the essential role of the partnership between laboratory professionals and manufacturers in the effort to control outbreaks, and in particular, the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Finally, we would like to draw the attention on the closing lecture of prof. Tomris Ozben, EFLM president-elect, which was focussed on the current and future challenges of our profession considering the need for harmonization between regulatory authorities, evidence based laboratory medicine, IVD industry, and the ultimate demand for the introduction of advanced and integrative diagnostics increasing the visibility of medical laboratories as a first line healthcare provider. In the Symposium on cancer diagnostics and therapy, prof. Ozben presented the role of biotechnology for the investigation of epigenetic changes including DNA methylation, chromatin remodelling, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs as factors leading to cell damage and disease.
Following the accepted BCLF Meeting rules and requirements, all constituent societies participated in the scientific program with at least three oral presentations ordered and completed in 8 Symposia which covered the most important and actual aspects of laboratory medicine: quality control, laboratory management, mass spectrometry, cardiology, cancer diagnostics and therapy, neurologic diseases, endocrinology and metabolism, fertility, pregnancy, porphyria diagnostics, haematology, inflammation and others. Industrially sponsored sessions were fully scientifically oriented and were focussed on new analytical developments and technologies, improved diagnostics in cardiology, infectious diseases, fertility, pregnancy, women’s health and haematology. Poster presentations further demonstrated the scientific and professional achievements of the regional clinical laboratory scientists in the fields of advanced analytical techniques, molecular biology and molecular diagnostics, endocrinology and metabolism, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and infectious diseases, pregnancy, haematology and haemostasis, inflammation, inflammatory and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, trace elements, therapeutic drug management, vitamins, electrolytes and others.
To wrap up, we appreciate everyone who contributed to make the Joint 2021 BCLF/BSCL Meeting such a success. When we look at the almost 30 years lasting history of the Federation, we are proud that we have grown this much since the beginning, and have reached a scientific and professional level that forms a stable platform for our healthcare laboratories to stay on the front line of the efforts to provide the best possible patient care. Our goal will always be to encourage young scientists and future generations to keep the line of achievements we have already reached, and to open new horizons of science and clinical practice for the success of laboratory medicine and the goodwill of our patients. We hope that the abstracts and articles published in this special supplement issue of the Journal will be an inspiration and stimulus for the entire scientific and professional medical laboratory community.
Dobrin Svinarov, MD, Ph.D., Dr. Med. Sc.
Professor and Head, Clinical Laboratory & Clinical Pharmacology
Chairman, Department of Clinical Laboratory
Alexander University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine
Medical University of Sofia
St. G. Sofiiski 1 Blvd.
1431 Sofia, Bulgaria
E-mail: [email protected]
Milena Velizarova, MD, PhD
Assoc. Professor at Clinical Laboratory & Clinical Pharmacology
Department of Clinical Laboratory
Alexander University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine
Medical University of Sofia
St. G. Sofiiski 1 Blvd.
1431 Sofia, Bulgaria
E-mail: [email protected]
Ivanka Paskaleva, MD, Ph.D.
Professor and Head, Department of Laboratory Medicine
National Cardiology Hospital 65 Konjovitsa Str.
1309 Sofia, Bulgaria
E-mail: [email protected]
PRESIDENTS
Joso Coric, BCLF President
Dobrin Svinarov, Congress President
Ivanka Paskaleva, Congress Co-President
CONGRESS SECRETARY
Milena Velizarova
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Adelina Ruseva, Bulgaria
Alexander Haliassos, Greece
Andra Caragheorgheopol, Romania
Anna Tzoncheva, Bulgaria
Anyla Bulo Kasneci, Albania
Aylin Sepici Dincel, Turkey Christos Kroupis, Greece
Cristina Mambet, Romania
Danica Labudovic, North Macedonia
Daniela Gerova, Bulgaria
Demetrios Rizos, Greece
Dobrin Svinarov, Bulgaria
Dogan Yucel, Turkey
Dora Terzieva, Bulgaria
Dragana Puhalo Sladoje, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Irini Leimoni, Greece
Jozo Coric, Bosnia & Herzegovina
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Adelina Ruseva, Bulgaria
Alexander Haliassos, Greece
Anna Tzoncheva, Bulgaria
Daniela Gerova, Bulgaria
Dobrin Svinarov, Bulgaria
Giuseppe Lippi, Italy
Ivanka Paskaleva, Bulgaria
Jordanka Laleva, Bulgaria
Kamen Tzatchev, Bulgaria
Khosrow Adeli, Canada Mario Plebani, Italy
Kamen Tzatchev, Bulgaria
Katerina Tosheska-Trajkovska, North Macedonia
Liljana Lambreva, Bulgaria
Margaritka Boncheva, Bulgaria
Marianka Genova, Bulgaria
Milena Velizarova, Bulgaria
Nada Majkić-Singh, Serbia
Najdana Gligorovic-Barhanovic, Montenegro
Nedjalko Kalachev, Bulgaria
Snežana Jovičić, Serbia
Stojan Danev, Bulgaria
Tania Deneva, Bulgaria
Todorka Tzvetkova, Bulgaria
Vanja Tzoneva, Bulgaria
Veselina Koleva, Bulgaria
Yana Bocheva, Bulgaria
Zorica Šumarac, Serbia
Maurizio Ferrari, Italy
Milena Velizarova, Bulgaria
Nada Majkić-Singh, Serbia Stojan Danev, Bulgaria
Sverre Sandberg, Norway
Tania Deneva, Bulgaria
Tomris Ozben, Turkey
Vanja Tzoneva, Bulgaria
Veselina Koleva, Bulgaria
Yana Bocheva, Bulgaria
Funding
The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.