Srpsko Društvo Istraživača Raka (SDIR)
The Serbian Association for Cancer Research (SDIR) was founded in November 2010 in Belgrade and currently has 229 members. SDIR is a non-profit association, established to achieve objectives in the field of oncology, and its head office is located at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia. SDIR holds regular bi-annual congresses in English, accessible to an international audience, and has recently initiated various activities which contribute to better collaboration between members and promote excellence in cancer research.
Meetings and Activities
The SDIR-5 congress, the very first virtual edition, was held successfully in December 2021 and was titled “Translational Potential of Cancer Research in Serbia”. 206 researchers from 15 countries participated in the congress. EACR Past President – Professor Caroline Dive,
held a plenary lecture titled “Liquid biopsies in lung cancer”. During the scientific sessions, a range of basic and translational research in Serbia, the diaspora, and the world was presented, with an emphasis on the existing cooperation between the members and the need for even closer collaboration. In 2022, SDIR established scientific cooperation agreements with similar national scientific societies, the Serbian Society for Molecular Biology (MolBioS), the Biochemical Society of Serbia (BDS), the Cancerology Section of the Serbian Medical Society (KS-SLD),
Serbian Society for Extracellular Vesicles (SrbEV), Serbian Society of Medical Oncology (UMOS), and Serbian Genetic Society (DGS). Future plans include the organization of joint scientific events and other benefits that SDIR and societies will inter-changeably offer to members.
SDIR Scientific Days
The first “SDIR Scientific Days” meeting was held on September 20, 2022, at the State University in Novi Pazar, Serbia, in a hybrid format. This new initiative is aimed at enabling the promotion of SDIR activities and strengthening the cooperation of all cancer research centers in Serbia.
The meeting was very successful and aroused great interest among members in various cities of Serbia to host the next meeting. The meeting started with the presentation of new activities and initiatives of SDIR, as well as EACR’s mission to support national member societies, as kindly indicated by the President of EACR Professor Yardena Samuels who gave a short lecture during the meeting.
The second “SDIR Scientific Days” meeting was held in the Rectorate of the University of Kragujevac on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in a hybrid format. Lecturers from the University of Kragujevac presented their research, scientific results, and future plans.
The members of the SDIR Executive Board got acquainted with the personnel and infrastructural resources for cancer research at the University of Kragujevac and discussed new possibilities of collaboration to jointly apply for new scientific projects.
To promote and stimulate scientific research and professional advancement of SDIR members, in 2023, SDIR launched an initiative for awarding annual prizes for the most worthy scientific publications in the field of cancer research to its members. The selection procedure was competitive and performed by an independent scientific committee.
Announcement of future activities in 2023
The annual assembly of the SDIR was held on Thursday, June 22, 2023, with the ceremonial launch of the new website of the society. Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics- Suresh K. Alahari, from Louisiana State University, Center for Medical Sciences, New Orleans, USA, was the guest of honor and lecturer. Professor Alahari gave a lecture “Nischarin, a Novel Tumor Suppressor Regulates Breast Cancer Progression through Interaction with Multiple Proteins”. The meeting was held in a hybrid format.
SDIR-6 Congress “From Collaboration to Innovation in Cancer Research” will be held on October 2 – 4, 2023, at the Royal Inn Hotel in Belgrade, with confirmed attendance of the EACR President, Prof. René Bernards and a member of the EACR Board: Prof. Chiara Ambrogio, as plenary lecturers. Representatives of national and regional societies affiliated with EACR, HDIR (Croatia), and MOKAD (Turkey) will present their research during sessions dedicated to the scientific cooperation of the societies, abstract submission deadline for the Congress is 23 July 2023. During the congress, prizes will be awarded to researchers for the best scientific publications, as well as to presenters of the best abstracts. We have plans to establish a Young SDIR Members Section and launch the first issue of the SDIR scientific journal. We hope to see you in Belgrade in October, for the exciting SDIR-6 Congress!
About National Societies affiliated with the EACR
SDIR is one of the 14 National Societies that have chosen to affiliate with the European Association for Cancer Research and give their members EACR membership at no extra cost to each member. Click here to find out more about these affiliated National Societies.
