Published on: 07-06-2010

Dear members,

On the invitation of the Director Colonel Chimid Altankhishig of the Mongolian National Institute of Forensic Science the Board met in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The board were shown some of the sights of Ulaanbaatar and surrounding areas and were dined in both modern restaurants as well as traditional Gers. A workshop was held on one of the days with presentations from board members, and others, including Prof Surenjav Unursaikhan director of the Poison Control Centre. The deputy Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Ms Vanchig Udval opened the workshop.

The board thank Director Colonel Chimid Altankhishig and all those who contributed to our visit and to Dr Heesun Chung for the initial contact and in assisting in the arrangements. A number of attendees were signed up as DCF members - the first from Mongolia.

I would like to remind members to register for the Bonn meeting. Early applications close soon. Details of the program will be available soon. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Bonn.

The main recommendations/outcomes of the board meeting were:

Finances: The Treasurer Dr Dan Isenschmid provided his report of finances to date. While there has been some greater expenditure this year to date than income the accounts were still healthy. Consideration was given to increasing annual dues to USD 50. This decision will be made ahead of the AGM in Bonn. This would help fund the DCF program and other activities. In the mean time the President and other members of the board will work towards attracting corporate sponsorship for its activities.

Committee Reports: The chairs of the various committees, ie web (Dr Gianpaolo Brusini), STA (Dr Thomas Stimpfl), Young Scientists (Dr Frank Peters) and Therapeutic and Toxic Drugs Database (Prof Donald Uges), and Bulletin editors (Drs Dimitri Gerostamoulos and Jochen Beyer) presented their reports. The board thanked the chairs and committees for their valuable contributions to the Association. Abbreviated reports will be published in the next edition of the Bulletin.

Database: The board was keen to seek assistance from suitably interested members to help Prof Donald Uges develop the database and agreed to seek an expression of interest from members. The committee agreed to draft terms of reference to guide the development of the database and provide more useful data for forensic toxicologists.

50th Anniversary Celebrations: As discussed last year we have our 50th birthday in 2013. The board agreed to establish a "50th Birthday Celebration" committee with Prof Alain Verstraete as chair. They would prepare a booklet summarising the achievements of the Association over its 50 years, including such items as series of photographs of significant persons and events, its achievements, a list of all of our meetings, office bearers, awardees etc; and to plan and hold a symposium in London on the day of the 50th anniversary.

DCF Travel Grants: Thirteen applicants requested assistance to attend the Bonn meeting. The following six were successful: Yeshvandra Verma (India), Isabel Kazanga (Malawi), Chalongkwan Tangbanluekal (Thailand), Gafer Rageh Ahmed (Egypt), Flavia Thiessen (Brazil), and Mariza Insaurralde (Paraguay). All successful applicants will give presentations (poster or oral) at the Bonn meeting.

Awards: As advertised previously on the web site nominations of the Allan Curry award and young Achievement Award are open. Members are encouraged to nominate. Nominations for Allan Curry award go to the President and the Young Achievement award to the Past President Dr Pascal Kintz.

Until next time, sincerely

Olaf Drummer
TIAFT President