Dear colleagues and friends,

The Society of Medical Biochemists of Belgrade has the pleasure of inviting you to the 20th Meeting of the Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation to be held in Belgrade, on September 18–22, 2012, joined together with the 8th EFCC Symposium for the Balkan Region and 18th Congress of Medical Biochemists of Serbia.

This is the third time that the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia acts as the organizer of the BCLF Meetings. The Fourth Meeting of the Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation was held in Budva in 1996, and the 11th BCLF 2003 Meeting was orga nized in Belgrade, under the auspices of the International Fede ration of Clinical Che mistry (IFCC) and the Forum of the European Societies of Clinical Chemistry (FESCC). More than 500 scientists from all over the world and all the Balkan countries were present. It has been generally agreed that the meeting fulfilled the expectations and was a success.

The Serbian capital Belgrade, the host of the Meetings, is an ancient city. No one knows when the first settlers inhabited the area of pre sent-day Belgrade. During the prehistoric era, the city surroundings were already densely populated. In those times, land and river ca ravans traveling along some of the oldest trade routes were meeting on its territory.

The ancient peoples who lived on this land were changing by turns: from the Illyrian tribe of Autariats, through Dacians, Celtic Scordians, to Thracian Sings, etc. Belgrade’s many names include:

Singidunum, Alba Bulgaricam, Nandorfejervar, Alban andor, Wiessen - burg, Griechisch Weissenburg, Alba Graeca, Castel bianco and Beograd (Belgrade). It is believed that the first inhabitants of Belgrade were the Sings, one of the Thracian-Illyrian tribes. They are mentioned by Herodotus, the father of European history. The city’s first name recorded in history was SINGIDUNUM, most probably of Celtic origin, and can be found in the works of ancient authors and antique inscriptions. It was derived from the name of the Thracian tribe of SINGS and the Celtic word DUNUM, meaning »town«. In historic documents, the city appeared under the Slavic name Belograd or Beograd in the 9th century.

Belgrade lies at the mouth of two rivers, the Danube and the Sava, under the Avala mountain, and these are the silent witnesses of a long and bloody history of the city that has always risen from ashes, like the Phoenix, each time bigger and more beautiful.

The 20th BCLF Meeting in Belgrade will continue with its successful progress of the previous years, aiming to focus on the new data in the field of laboratory medicine. The intention is also to increase the parti cipation of clinical chemists from all the Balkan countries, as well as from the neighboring states.

We hope that we will have the pleasure of your presence and, speaking on behalf of the Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia, we look forward to your active participation in the works of the 20th Balkan Clinical Laboratory Federation Meeting and 8th Symposium for the Balkan Region, as well as the 18th Serbian National Congress of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine.

President
Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia

Prof. dr Nada Majkić-Singh