3rd Annual Meeting of Balkan Association for Vector-Borne Diseases
One region, one purpose — protecting health together.
The BAVBD Symposium brings physicians, microbiologists, epidemiologists, and veterinarians together to learn, share, and build trust across disciplines and borders.
Event date:
November 28, 2025
Location:
Vermaš Hall
Park Heroja 15, Palić, Serbia
Welcome letter
Esteemed colleagues and distinguished guests,
It is with great joy that we invite you to join us at the BAVBD Symposium on Vector-Borne Diseases and Regional Biosafety Collaboration, which will take place on 29 November 2025 in Palić, Serbia.
This gathering is not only an opportunity to learn, but also a moment to reconnect — to share experiences, stories, and ideas that bridge our laboratories, clinics, and communities across the region.
Our aim is simple: to strengthen understanding, compassion, and collaboration among those who dedicate their work to protecting human and animal health. Through open dialogue and shared learning, we hope to create new friendships and renew our common commitment to science that serves people.
We look forward to welcoming each of you — to sit together, learn together, and inspire one another.
May this symposium be a reminder that progress always begins with connection.
Dr. Dejan Jakimovski
Clinic for Infectious diseases Skopje, North Macedonia
President of BAVBD
Dr. Pavle Banović
Pasteur Institute Novi Sad
Local Organizer
Organization Board:
Dr. Gabor Kemenesi (National Laboratory of Virology, University of Pécs)
Dr. Pavle Banović (Pasteur Institute Novi Sad)
Dr. Dejan Jakimovski (University Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile conditions, Skopje)
Dr. Iva Christova (National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Sofia)
Dr. Lidija Popović-Dragonjić (Clinic for Infectology, University Clinical Center Niš)
Dr. Eleftherios Meletis (Laboratory of Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Public and One Health, University of Thessaly)
Scientific Board:
Dr. Eleftherios Meletis (Epidemiology and Biostatistics)
Dr. Dejan Jakimovski (Clinical medicine)
Dr. Pavle Banović (Diagnostics and Laboratory research)
Morning session lecurers
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Franc Strle
University Medical Centre
Ljubljana
Slovenia
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James Jason Valdés
Mikrobiologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Třeboň
Czech Republic
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Alejandro Cabezas Cruz
UMR BIPAR (INRAE, Anses, EnvA)
Maisons Alfort
France
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Tatjana Roganović
Clinic for Infectious Diseases
UKC Republike Srpske
Banja Luka, Bosnia i Hercegovina
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Biljana Popovska Jovičić
Clinic for Infectious Diseases
UKC Kragujevac
Serbia
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Dejan Jakimovski
University clinic for Infectious Diseases & Febrile Conditions – Skopje
North Macedonia
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Igor Pajović
Biotechnical faculty
University of Montenegro, Podgorica
Montenegro
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Pavle Banović
Pasteur Institute Novi Sad
Novi Sad Serbia
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Lidija Popović Dragonjić
Clinic for Infectious Diseases,
UKC Niš
Serbia
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Kemenesi Gabor
National Laboratory of Virology
Szentágothai Research Center University of Pécs,
Pécs, Hungary.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
-
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
-
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
Registration is open!
PROGRAM
28th November
· 15:00-15:30: Registration
· 15:30-16:30: Opening ceremony:
Welcome speeches
Presentation of the Szentágothai Research Centre (Professor Dr. Gabor L. Kovacs, Scientific Director)
Presentation of the National Laboratory of Virology (Dr. Gabor Kemenesi, director)
Presentation of Sandia National Laboratories, USA: Lisa Marie Astuto Gribble (Global Chemical and Biological Security,) „Sandia’s Impact on Global Health”
16:30: Free time / Visiting the laboratory of VNL
18:00-19:00: BAVBD general assembly
29th November
Morning Session
09:50-10:00: Discussion
10:00-10:30: Coffee break
11:50-12:00: Discussion
12:00-13:00: Lunch break
Afternoon workshops
Vector-borne Diseases and Innovative techniques
13:00-13:20: Opening lecture Daniel Ružek (Masaryk University)
Tick-borne encephalitis - still more questions than answers
13:20-13:40: Flash Talks
(Case reports, Preliminary research data)
13:40-14:50: Lectures
13:40-13:50 Eleftherios Meletis (Faculty of Public and One Health, University of Thessaly, Greece) Bayesian Modeling of Scutal and Coxal Indices for Lyme Borreliosis Risk-Exposure Assessment in Serbian Patients: Updated Insights from 2023 Data
13:50-14:00 Lidija Popović-Dragonjić (University Clinical Center Niš, Clinic for Infectious diseases) Vector-borne diseases in southeastern Serbia
14:00-14:10 Kostadin Poposki (University Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile conditions, Skopje) Vector-borne diseases as a cause of fever of unknown origin
14:10-14:20 Morana Tomljenović (Operative Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health Primorje-Gorski Kotar County) Vector-borne diseases (zoonoses) in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia
14:20-14:30 Iva Christova (National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Sofia, Bulgaria) Toscana virus circulation among residents of Bulgaria
14:30-14:40 Mattia Foti (University of Rome "La Sapienza", Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Malattie Infettive, Rome) Development and validation of an innovative approach to assess the age of Aedes albopictus adults
14:40-14:50 Dragomira Majhen (Institute Ruđer Bošković, Zagreb) Adenoviral vectors for gene transfer and vaccination
· 14:50-15:00: Discussion
· 15:00-15:30: Coffee break
Session IV
One Health - Research and Public Health aspects
15:30-15:50: Opening lecture
Daniel Brooks (Institute of Evolution, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research)
Overcoming the Social Inertia of Paradigm Shifts During a Crisis
15:50-16:50: Lectures
15:50-16:00 Ognyan Mikov (National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Sofia, Bulgaria) The mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of Bulgaria: an update on their vector role and resistance to insecticides
16:00-16:10 Orsolya Nagy (National Centre for Public Health and Pharmacy) Tropical arbovirus infections imported into Hungary in 2024
16:10-16:20 Csongor Németh (University of Pécs, Medical School, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Oncodermatology) Cutaneous Dirofilaria repens infections detected by dermatologists
16:20-16:30 Kornélia Kurucz (University of Pecs, National Laboratory of Virology) Circulation of mosquito-borne filarial nematodes in Pécs (Hungary) - investigating the background of human infections
16:30-16:40 Heliana Dundarova (Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) Lyssavirus Detection within the Cave-Dwelling Bat Communities in Bulgaria
16:40-16:50 Pavle Banović (Pasteur Institute Novi Sad) Detection and description of emerging vector-borne pathogens in Balkans: the role of BAVBD
16:50 – 17:00: Discussion
