FEN News

The Board of Foundation met in January 2020 and agreed:

  1. To update the Mission and Aim of the Foundation in the light of four years’ experience. The updated document is available in the ‘About Us’ section of the website
  2. To award a ‘FEN: SNIBE Support a Professional’ scholarship to Dr Thyrza Darmadi from Indonesia
  3. To advertise for four further scholarships under the ‘Support a Professional’ programme. This advert will be the subject of a separate news update
  4. To agree the content of the Annual Report for 2019. This document may be found in the ‘Publications’ section of this website
  5. To re-appoint to the Foundation Board Graham Beastall (UK); Lucia Monaco (IT); Tomris Ozben (TR) and Michelle Rossier (CH)

FEN-SNIBE ‘Support a Professional Programme’: Trainee Report

The FEN-SNIBE ‘Support a Professional Programme’ enabled Dr Sibtain Ahmed from Pakistan to spend three months in the laboratory of Prof Tomris Ozben in Antalya, Turkey. During this visit Dr Ahmed experienced specialist technologies and participated in the quality management system. You can read Dr Ahmed’s report here.

The FEN-SNIBE ‘Support a Professional Programme’ enables young professionals who have completed specialist training in laboratory medicine and experienced at least two years working in a service laboratory to visit a high-quality clinical laboratory in another country for 2-3 months training in laboratory management and service delivery.

The FEN supported a project conducted by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) to examine the status of microscopy in the areas of Ethiopia stratified for malaria elimination.

Principal Investigator Desalegn Nega (MSc) and his colleagues have published a technical report on the project entitled: ‘Comprehensive External Assessment of Proficiency of Malaria Microscopists and Laboratory Capacity in Districts Stratified for Malaria Elimination in Ethiopia.’ The report identifies low competency among malaria microscopists, particularly in species identification, and poor to moderate capacity of laboratories to undertake malaria microscopy. The report concludes that these laboratory issues present an obstacle to the elimination of malaria and it recommends investment into the training of microscopists and into laboratory capacity. A copy of the report is available in the ‘Projects’ section of this website

The FEN is delighted to have been able to support this important project, which illustrates the importance of high-quality laboratory medicine services in major public health programmes.

Annual Report for 2018

The FEN Annual Report for 2018  may be accessed here.

FEN-SNIBE ‘Support a Professional’ Programme Partnership

The FEN is delighted to announce a new partnership with SNIBE Diagnostics that will enable two scholarships to be awarded under the ‘Support a Professional’ programme. The scholarships will support two young professionals who have completed specialist training in laboratory medicine and experienced at least two years working in a service laboratory to visit a high-quality clinical laboratory in another country for 2-3 months training in laboratory management and service delivery. One scholarship recipient will come from Pakistan and the other will come from Indonesia. The FEN is working closely with the Pakistan Society of Chemical Pathologists and the Indonesian Association for Clinical Chemistry to promote the scholarship opportunities.

‘Adopt a Professional’ Report: Dr. José Guillermo Pereira Brunelli

Dr Brunelli from Paraguay completed a a two-month internship at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in the city of Rome, Italy, under the supervision of Professor Sergio Bernardini.  He learned diagnostic techniques in Molecular Microbiology, spending one month in the Molecular Virology Laboratory and the other month in the Molecular Bacteriology Laboratory, where they also make mycological diagnosis.  Dr Brunelli’s report is available here.

The ‘Adopt a Professional’ programme is a collaboration between the FEN and the Societá Italiana di Biochimica Clinica e Biologia Molecolare Clinica (SIBioC).

Annual Report for 2017

The FEN Annual Report for 2017 has been approved. It may be accessed here. The report includes details of:

  • Governance
  • Achievements
  • Completed projects
  • Ongoing projects
  • Finances

AACC Holds Colombia Workshop on Newborn Screening

On October 13, 2017, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) will host the workshop, “Early diagnosis of genetic disorders saves children’s lives: A discussion on merits and process to successfully implement newborn screening,” in Cali, Colombia. The symposium will connect the groups involved in establishing the country’s nascent newborn screening program, bringing together newborn screening experts, policymakers, and other stakeholders to discuss the successes and challenges of newborn screening for metabolic diseases in Latin America. It will feature presentations on the technical and practical elements of setting up a laboratory to perform newborn screening; talks by public health officials on the challenges of implementing newborn screening policy; and case studies from clinicians on the front lines.

The session will be held in conjunction with the 2017 annual meeting of the Colegio Nacional de Bacteriología, a prominent Colombian scientific association. Stakeholders such as the Colombian Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and instrument manufacturers will also be present.

For additional information, visit AACC’s website.

October 2017 Board meeting

The FEN Board met (by Skype) in October. The following items were discussed:

Projects funded by FEN

  • Report from the first ‘Adopt a Professional’ trainee, Lumbani Phiri from Zambia. This report can be found in the projects section of the website
  • Confirmation that the equipment to run Africa MedLab Radio has been purchased. Broadcasts will be available shortly from health360global.com
  • Initial report from the Ethiopian Public Health Institute on the project to improve the quality of microscopy in the diagnosis and management of malaria

Operational issues

  • Distribution of the autumn 2017 newsletter, available from this website
  • Collaboration with the AACC Global Outreach Program to share information and publicity. See https://www.aacc.org/global-health-outreach
  • Opportunities for further international collaboration
  • Fundraising and finances
  • Report for the meeting of the Executive Board of the Founder (IFCC)

The latest FEN newsletter is available  HERE.

The newsletter contains information on:

  • Project Updates:
    • ‘Lab Surfing’
    • ‘Adopt a Professional’
    • ‘AFCC AfricaMedLab Internet Radio’
  • Collaboration with partner organisations
  • Fundraising
     

Interested parties are invited to discuss these or other items with the Chair of the Board of Directors – contact chair@ifccfoundation.org for discussion.

At its July 2017 the FEN Board was delighted to confirm funding for two more projects. Details may be found in the Projects section of the website and a summary is given below:

‘AFCC AfricaMedLab Internet Radio’

The FEN has provided an award to the African Federation of Clinical Chemistry. The award is for purchase of the technical equipment needed to provide regular internet radio programme for laboratory medicine specialists across Africa. The programmes will comprise news items and interviews with key figures from laboratory medicine and they will be produced by a team of scientists (mainly young scientists) from across the continent under the direction of Professor Hilda T Marima-Matarira from Harare, Zimbabwe. More details will follow in future News updates.

Comprehensive external assessment of proficiency of malaria microscopists and laboratory capacity in districts stratified for malaria elimination in Ethiopia

The FEN has agreed to collaborate with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) and the Federal Ministry of Health in Ethiopia to support a project that should assist in the elimination of malaria from designated districts in the country. The project will assess the competence of the individuals performing malaria microscopy and the capacity of the laboratories in which they work. This will enable targeted educational and infrastructure support to be provided to improve the quality of malaria diagnosis as part of the elimination programme. The principal investigator of the project will be Desalegn Nega Wada from EPHI. More details will follow in future News updates.

The ‘Lab Surfing’ project has presented its final report, which may be found in full in the Projects section of this website. The specific aim of the ‘Lab Surfing’ project is to facilitate self-organised exchange programmes between YS who are trainees in laboratory medicine. In summary this highly successful project:

  • Has recruited 515 young scientists from 60 different countries
  • The average age of participants is 30y
  • All areas of laboratory medicine are represented
  • Presented a poster of achievements at the EuroMedLab Athens 2017 congress
  • Is sustainable into the future under the direction of the IFCC Task Force for Young Scientists

The FEN Board is delighted to announce the award of two scholarships to enable trainees from emerging nations to receive three months advanced training in scientific and quality management practice in laboratory medicine:

  • Ms Lumbani Phiri from Zambia will train in the laboratory of Prof Marcello Ciaccio in Palermo, Sicily
  • Mr José Pereira Brunelli from Paraguay will train in Rome in the laboratories of Prof Sergio Bernardini and Dr Letizia Angiolella

The ‘Adopt a Professional’ programme is a collaboration between the FEN and the Societá Italiana di Biochimica Clinica e Biologia Molecolare Clinica (SIBioC). The FEN handles the application and selection process, administration and finance whilst SIBioC provides the funding and the host training centres. After three months practical training the two scholarship recipients will be offered mentorship through the next stage of their career.

Future news items will report on the two scholarship recipients during their training experience.

The ‘Adopt a Professional’ programme proved popular and a large number of high quality applications were received from Africa, Latin America and Asia. The FEN Board is actively seeking funding support to enable a second round of scholarships to be awarded.

Applications for project support are invited. The closing date for applications is 31st March 2017.  Details of the application process are available from the ‘Apply for a Grant’ section of this website.

Newsletter

The latest FEN newsletter is available here.

The newsletter contains information on:

  • The call for the next round of project applications
  • The benefits of project partnership with the FEN
  • The achievements of the first year of operation
  • Fundraising initiatives

Interested parties are invited to discuss these or other items with the Chair of the Board of Directors - contact chair@ifccfoundation.org for discussion.

The first Annual Report of the FEN has been approved and is available  here.

The document addresses the establishment of the Foundation and the Board of Directors, the projects supported and the partnerships developed. The report gives an overview of finances pending the formal audit of accounts, which will take place shortly. The Annual Report and audited accounts will be submitted to the Charity Regulator in Switzerland as part of the legal governance arrangements.

The FEN Board met on 1 February to review projects, to approve the annual report and to agree the content of the latest Newsletter.

The ‘Lab-Surfing project to enable networking among Young Scientists around the world has been launched (www.lab-surfing.com) and is proving highly successful having connected 260 YS from 41 countries in just six weeks. A copy of the project update may be found here.

The ‘Adopt a Professional’ project, carried out in partnership with the Societá Italiana di Biochimica Clinica e Biologia Molecolare Clinica (SIBioC) has contacted eligible countries to seek nominations to join the programme.

The first Annual Report of the FEN was approved and is available here.

The latest newsletter was approved and is available here. The FEN Board is inviting applications for project funding and is keen to discuss project partnerships with other organizations.

This first Newsletter describes the three projects for FEN support at its June 2016 meeting. Two of these projects are grants for specific projects whilst the third is a positive collaboration with a national society of laboratory medicine. Support for further projects will rely on the level of donations received by the FEN and/or collaborations with partner organisations.

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The FEN Board met (by Skype) on 23 June. The Board:

  • Reviewed the wording of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a national society for laboratory medicine to provide educational training and support
  • Reviewed two project applications
  • Reviewed the publicity and promotion given to FEN
  • Received an update on fundraising initiatives

Separate reports will appear shortly on the MoU and the project applications

The FEN Board met on 27 April to review progress. The following items were noted:

  • Formal legal registration of FEN
  • The establishment of an operational FEN bank account
  • The launch of the FEN at the IFCC General Conference
  • The call for project applications with a closing date of 31 May 2016
  • Preliminary interest from three emerging nations

The FEN Board then took two important decisions:

  • To tidy up the FEN website and to add further images
  • Approval of the FEN Fundraising Strategy, opening the way for a fundraising campaign

Finally, The FEN Board discussed an interesting proposal for a joint project involving laboratory medicine trainees from emerging nations receiving training and mentorship from a major European country. The Board agreed to develop this proposal further, noting that it had the potential for expansion to other partner nations.

The FEN Board is pleased to announce the first call for applications for project grant funding. The closing date for the receipt of applications is 31 May 2016.

The FEN is able to support projects that involve education in an aspect of laboratory medicine in an emerging nation. Project proposals may be organised by societies, groups or individuals active in laboratory medicine. All project proposals should lead to an outcome that:

  • Can be assessed in terms of quality improvement, and/or
  • Provides a baseline for local support to continue the project once FEN grant funding support ceases

The FEN has limited resources and so can only support pilot projects or projects that will deliver results against defined objectives, normally within six months. The FEN cannot support salary costs for researchers, although it may support essential travel (economy) and other expenses incurred by researchers. The FEN is unlikely to fund projects that cost >10,000 Swiss Francs. Examples of projects that may attract FEN support may be found under the ‘Projects’ button at: www.ifccfoundation.org  

In order to apply for a project grant it is necessary to complete the application form that can be downloaded from the ‘Apply for a Grant’ button at www.ifccfoundation.org