An overview of the Short Term Scientific Mission undertaken by Assistant professor Emina Milosevic from the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade. Emina was hosted by Professor Hildegard Greinix, Head of Division of Haematology, Medical University of Graz, LKH-Univ. Klinikum Graz.
During this STSM, a search strategy was built for cellular biomarkers in cGVHD for PubMed and EMBASE over the last 10 years. Review articles and case reports were omitted from search. Only articles in English language were considered further. The search strategy was verified by a statistician from the library of the Medical University of Graz.
The initial search retrieved 667 references. The following step was to screen title and abstract all references to check for their relevance for the review, screening for study design, number of patients, and other markers assessed along with cellular biomarkers. The first screen of all references was undertaken by Emina Milošević in collaboration with Antonia Babić (Zagreb), Lukas Gaksch (Graz), Miloš Marković (Belgrade) and Lorenzo Lovino (Pisa), under the supervision of prof. Hildegard Greinix. After the first screen, a total of 59 references were selected as relevant.
After reading in detail several high-impact papers, it was concluded that a check-list for grading references might be useful. Prof. Greinix and prof. Milošević made a list of criteria for further assessment of selected studies based on 1) to which extent the authors addressed NIH recommendations for the biomarker research in cGVHD and 2) if the authors provide enough information on used techniques for replication.
The following step was to assess how many studies and to which extent they reported the information necessary for the study reproducibility and/or comparison with other studies. The list of criteria was circulated among co-authors of the review on cellular biomarkers of cGVHD and two major references were assessed for criteria fulfilment by each co-author. In this exercise, every co-author gave a critical opinion on the list of criteria & reviewed the length of time taken to extract the information from a single paper in order to estimate how long it would take to make such an overview of all selected references.
A graphical representation of criteria fulfilment across all references was the part of the review on cellular biomarkers. A scoring system added value to the review , giving insight into following NIH criteria and how feasible it is to follow this. It was thought that criteria for scoring references could help authors as minimum information to report on cellular biomarkers of cGVHD papers. Moreover, having the set of criteria as a check-list may impact future researchers in the field of cGVHD biomarkers and improve reproducibility and/or comparability of these studies.
In addition to the literature survey on cellular biomarkers of cGVHD, this STSM enabled us to contact interested researchers from Graz and Belgrade. Flow cytometry protocols for immuno-monitoring, formulated by former COST Action ENTIRE, currently used in Belgrade were shared with a group in Graz. Common interest in immuno-monitoring was identified through this STSM and it made a foundation for possible collaboration of the group from Belgrade with the groups of prof. Hildegard Greinix and dr. Alexander Deutsch in Graz. Also, assist. prof. Emina Milosevic had directly observed flow cytometric data analysis of patients with acute leukaemia. Furthermore, meeting with prof. Marcus Seidl in paediatric ward of the Haematology clinic in Graz was a good opportunity to learn about laboratory diagnostic tests that could be established in Belgrade.
In conclusion, both direct and indirect objectives and plans proposed by the work plan of this STSM were fulfilled.
An overview of the Short Term Scientific Mission 'Extracellular Vesicle Characterisation via Flow Cytometry' undertaken by Kimberly Schell, a PhD student from the Translational and Clinical Research Institute at Newcastle University. Kimberly was hosted by Professor Marit Inngjerdingen of the Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
An overview of the Short Term Scientific Mission undertaken by Assistant professor Emina Milosevic from the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade. Emina was hosted by Professor Hildegard Greinix, Head of Division of Haematology, Medical University of Graz, LKH-Univ. Klinikum Graz.
I am Julia Nihtilä, a PhD student in the transplantation genomics group lead by Professor Jukka Partanen at the Finnish Red Cross Bloodservice.
I am Darija Bogdanić and currently, I am working as a transfusion medicine resident at the Clinical Department for Transfusion Medicine and Transplantation Biology of the University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; also I am a PhD student in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Osijek, Croatia.
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