The Fourth Congress of the Serbian Association for Cancer Research with international participation (SDIR-4) “Bringing science to oncology practice: Where is Serbia?”
The Fourth Congress of the Serbian Association for Cancer Research with international participation (SDIR-4) “Bringing science to oncology practice: Where is Serbia?” was held from October 3-5, 2019, at the “M” Hotel in Belgrade.
The congress was opened by Principal Research Fellow Dr. Mirjana Branković-Magić, President of SDIR. The opening ceremony was attended by Principal Research Fellow Dr. Marina Soković, Assistant Minister for Science, who gave a welcoming speech on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. Associate Professor Dr. Marina Nikitović, Assistant Director for Research and Education at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, also addressed the participants, as did Professor Dr. Radan Džodić, on behalf of the Oncology Section of the Serbian Medical Society. SDIR-4 was attended by 95 participants from Serbia and 15 international participants.
On the first day, five lectures were held as part of an educational symposium titled “Applying translational cancer research in molecular diagnostics: Serbian experience” (moderated by Principal Research Fellow Dr. Siniša Radulović and Full Professor Dr. Zvonko Magić).
On Friday, October 4, presentations by prominent scientists and clinicians from Serbia and abroad were organized into three sessions: “New technologies and approaches of molecular diagnostics in hereditary cancer” (moderated by Principal Research Fellow Dr. Mirjana Branković-Magić, President of SDIR), “Targeted & Immunotherapy in cancer: Biomarker-based approaches” (moderated by Principal Research Fellow Dr. Siniša Radulović and Principal Research Fellow Dr. Radmila Janković), and “Current challenges and future perspectives of radiotherapy” (moderated by Senior Scientific Associate Dr. Tatjana Stanojković and Associate Professor Dr. Marina Nikitović).
On October 4, invited speaker Dr. Arkaitz Carracedo delivered an exceptional plenary lecture titled “Disentangling the molecular drivers of prostate cancer progression.” Dr. Carracedo is a board member of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) and a representative of young researchers, serving as a Principal Research Fellow, Laboratory Leader and Principal nInvestigator of several research projects. He is also a co-author of numerous papers published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Communications, and Cancer Research.
The poster session, held on October 4, included 36 high-quality electronic poster presentations to the Awards Committee and other congress participants. The committee for the best poster award included Principal Research Fellow Dr. Siniša Radulović, Principal Research Fellow Dr. Tatjana Srdić-Rajić, and Principal Research Fellow Dr. Milica Pešić.
The third day of the congress featured two sessions: “The role of oxidative stress in drug nresistance” (moderated by Principal Research Fellow Dr. Milica Pešić) and “Innovative tools for advancing cancer research” (moderated by Prof. Dr. Engin Ulukaya and Research Associate Dr. Jelena Grahovac).
During four sessions (the first two on the second day and two on the third day), twelve participants selected by the Scientific Committee gave brief oral presentations of their posters.
At the congress’s closing, awards were presented for the best posters. The first prize went to Marija Nešović from the Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković.” Tamara Babić from the Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering won the second prize, and Ivana Boljević from the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia won the third prize. The congress was officially closed by Dr. Mirjana Branković-Magić, President of SDIR.
The Serbian Association for Cancer Research expresses its deep gratitude for the financial support for organizing the congress from the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR), the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, and the Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković.”
We are especially grateful to all our sponsors for their financial support of the SDIR-4 congress:
PLATINUM SPONSOR: AstraZeneca
GOLD SPONSORS: Labena d.o.o., ELTA 90 Medical Science d.o.o. Belgrade, Roche d.o.o.
SILVER SPONSORS: Vivogen d.o.o., Superlab d.o.o., and Alfamed d.o.o.