Published on: 03-01-2016
Dear TIAFT Friends,
Happy New Year 2016! This is the year of the Monkey and we Koreans believe that people born in the year of the Monkey are wise, confident, charismatic, and have leadership ability. I hope all of us are also wise and that we always strive to develop and demonstrate leadership. I sincerely wish that 2016 blesses you and your loved ones with health, harmony and happiness.
I am delighted to inform you that Elisabetta Berthol, president of the 53rd TIAFT meeting in Florence, donated 30,000 Euros to TIAFT after successfully hosting the meeting. On behalf of TIAFT, I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to her for hosting one of the best meetings ever and for donating this money to our organization. I will discuss with the board how we can find the best way to use these funds to benefit our members.
In 2015, we shared fond memories together through many events. First of all, we had the 53rd annual meeting in Florence, the city of art and culture with 637 participants from 63 countries. It was a huge success. I am certain that all participants brought pleasant memories of Florence back to their home countries thanks to Elisabetta and her team’s hard work.
Also in 2015, there were two regional meetings, one in Uzbekistan and one in Peru. The regional meeting in Uzbekistan was the first one in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Central Asia with 150 participants from 10 countries. Mareta Ibragimova and her team did a great job in hosting the meeting. I greatly hope the second meeting will be held in that important region in 2016.
In November, Wilfredo Cahuana and his team successfully held the 11th regional Latin America TIAFT meeting in Arequipa, Peru. 319 participants including 31 speakers enjoyed the scientific program as well cultural experience and historic heritage of Peru. The Board and I were immensely proud of our friends in Latin America for their enthusiasm to host the meeting every year.
However I am very sorry that the bulletins were not issued three times in 2015. Jochen did his best, but couldn’t produce them in time. The Board will work with Jochen to issue three bulletins in 2016 as promised. Please send your articles to him and share your papers with other TIAFT members. It will be a great help for him to produce the bulletin in time.
While talking about the bulletin, there is some sad news for all of us. Golo Meyer passed away in early December. He had worked with Jochen at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in St. Gallen, Switzerland since Feb 2014 as a toxicologist. Golo had completed his PhD in Hans Maurer’s lab and was only 34 years old. To accomplish one of initiatives of TIAFT, he went to Brazil on September for developing the analytical method as the first young scientist selected for this special program. I heard that he was incredibly gentle and professional during his stay in Novo Hamburgo for two weeks. It is a huge loss for TIAFT, my heart is torn with sorrow and we will miss him. His passing serves as a reminder of how precious our time is.
In 2016, we will have numerous excellent events ahead of us.
Firstly, the 54th annual meeting will be held in Brisbane, Australia (28 Aug to 1 Sep). Olaf Drummer and Dimitri Gerostarmoulos will prepare the scientific and social program for all participants. It will be another great meeting with beautiful weather in a perfect location. I am looking forward to seeing all of you in Brisbane.
The first regional meeting of TIAFT in Africa will be held in Cape Town in May. It will be a great chance for us to promote TIAFT to toxicologists in this region. The board will have a mid-year board meeting, while giving lectures and sharing ideas with friends in Africa.
The 12th regional meeting of Latin America will be hosted by Alexis Brenes in Panama. It will be very important to have the 12th meeting in Panama, because it will give a chance for toxicologists in both Central and South America able to attend it. It will be a milestone for the promotion of TIAFT in Central America.
Please mark your calendars and join and support these events.
There are many deadlines you have to remember. For DCF travel fund, please submit your application by 30 April and abstract deadline is 28 March 2016 for the annual meeting. I also encourage the labs in developing countries to apply for the grant of analytical method.
Your contribution to TIAFT is invaluable and always appreciated.
Once again thank you and Happy New Year everyone
Sincerely,
Dr. Heesun Chung, President