President's Messages

Published on: 18-08-2017

It has truly been an honor and privilege for me to serve as the 13th president of TIAFT. I will hand over the presidency to Dr. Marc LeBeau during the joint SOFT-TIAFT meeting next month. I am sure he will be a great president for the association. While writing this message, I am very sad and shocked because we lost our dear friend, Anya Pierce. She was thoughtful and caring and a true a role model for all of us. Her passing is a great loss for TIAFT, and we will miss her. May she rest in peace.

Published on: 23-07-2017

Our 55th meeting in Boca Raton is just two months away, and now it is time to finalize our travel arrangements. We will be having participants coming from all over the world. It's going to be special, and I hope all of you attend.

Published on: 31-05-2017

I have just arrived back in Korea from Romania where we had a delightful TIAFT regional meeting. The meeting was held with the Romanian Congress of Legal Medicine, and there were 230 participants from all over Romania. The organizing committee set the first day as the day of Forensic Toxicology. All board members presented their talks from 9:00 am until 7:00 pm on all different topics of toxicology.

Published on: 04-03-2017

Last week, I was in the US to attend the 69th AAFS meeting in New Orleans. The theme of this year was ‘Our Future Reflects Our Past; the Evolution of Forensic Science.’ Regarding the presentation, there were 36 oral and 30 poster presentations in New psychoactive substances (NPS), drugs and driving, analytical methods, multidisciplinary session, general forensic toxicology and pediatric postmortem toxicology.

Published on: 02-01-2017

This is The Year of the Rooster in Korea and the year when you will need to work hard and be patient in order to achieve your goals. The Rooster years are known to be filled with integrity and efficiency. Hard work is the key to achieving success in this New Year. I sincerely wish that 2017 blesses you and your loved ones with health, harmony, and happiness.

Published on: 04-12-2016

I was privileged and delighted to attend two TIAFT regional meetings in just three weeks time from October to November. First, I attended the second TIAFT meeting in Turkey. The meeting was held under the leadership of Serap Annette Akgür and Nebile Daglioglu from 30 October to 2 November, 2016 in Antalya. From 9 to 12 November, Freddy Arias successfully hosted the 12th Regional TIAFT meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was the first time that a TIAFT Regional Meeting was hosted in a Central American or Caribbean country.

Published on: 16-09-2016

The Brisbane meeting proved to be one of our best with 510 participants including 35 students from 46 countries. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the chair of the meeting, Olaf Drummer and his wonderful team including: Mark Stephenson, Dimitri Gerostamoulos, Shanlin Fu, Tim Scott, and Irine Kourtis for their hard work, dedication, and selfless service to make the 54th meeting successful.

Published on: 16-07-2016

During the last week of June, I attended the meeting of the expert consultation on Forensic Toxicology and drug control by UNODC. Three board members including Robert Kronstrand, Dimitri Gerostamoulous, and I were invited to the meeting and we realized that it will be a great opportunity for TIAFT to collaborate with UNODC. Therefore, I would like to share the report of this meeting as summarized by Dimitri.

Published on: 28-05-2016

The first regional meeting of TIAFT was held in Cape Town, South Africa with great success. Alicia Evans and her team organized the first meeting and there were 70 participants from all over South Africa including National Department of Health laboratories, South African Police laboratories, Academic University laboratories and students.

Published on: 14-03-2016

Easter is coming soon and if you celebrate it I hope you have a wonderful Easter holiday with your family. Last month, I attended the AAFS 68th Annual Scientific Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. There was good news at the meeting. Our treasurer, Robert Kronstrand received Ray Abermethy Award on Wednesday, February 24 at the section of Toxicology. I was very happy for him and proud of him. Please congratulate him for his achievement.

Published on: 08-02-2016

Isn’t it amazing to wish you Happy New Year twice in only two-months time? On Feb. 8th we will celebrate the Lunar New Year here in Korea. We consider this date as the real New Year. We could also call it the Year of the Koala because we will have our 2016 Annual Meeting in Brisbane, Australia. Here are some important dates and details that you need to be aware of.

Published on: 03-01-2016

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.

Published on: 28-11-2015

From 16 to 18 November, the 11th regional TIAFT meeting was successfully hosted in Arequipa, Peru. Arequipa is Peru’s second most populous city and a UNESCO world Heritage site. It is a beautiful city of historic heritage, natural scenery, and important cultural sites with the Misti volcano on the city skyline.

Published on: 26-10-2015

Wasn’t it wonderful for 679 TIAFT friends and family from 63 countries to gather together for a whole week during our 53rd Annual TIAFT Meeting in Florence? The meeting proved to be one of our best TIAFT meetings ever thanks to our meeting president Elisabetta Bertol. I would like to thank her and her wonderful team for their hard work, dedication, and selfless service to make the 53rd meeting our best ever.

Published on: 25-08-2015

I am delighted to announce that you are going to meet 679 participants from 63 countries in Florence, Italy during the 53rd Annual Meeting of TIAFT. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Elisabetta Bertol for her leadership as the president of the 53rd meeting. You can be certain that this meeting will be one of our best TIAFT meetings ever for three reasons.