The 7th Central-Eastern European Congress on Cell-Free Nucleic Acids Comes to a Successful Close
The 7th Central-Eastern European Congress on Cell-Free Nucleic Acids (CEECFNA), held on 10–11 September 2026 at the Carlton Hotel in Bratislava, brought together an exceptional international community of researchers, clinicians, and experts working in the field of extracellular nucleic acids.
The congress featured an outstanding program of scientific presentations from our invited speakers and contributed talks, covering a broad range of topics from fundamental research of the biology of extracellular nucleic acids to prenatal diagnostics, cancer research, and other clinical applications.
We were honored to welcome distinguished experts from Europe, the United States, and Asia, including Prof. Diana W. Bianchi (NIH, USA), Prof. Erik Sistermans (Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands), Prof. Jacky Lam (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China), and many other inspiring speakers and participants.
The conference also included an awards ceremony for significant contributions to the field of medical genetics and genomics. Prof. Diana W. Bianchi and Prof. Erik Sistermans were awarded the Izakovič Medal by the Slovak Society for Medical Genetics and Genomics. Prof. Diana W. Bianchi was also honored with the Commemorative Medal of the Faculty of Medicine at Comenius University.
Beyond the scientific program, the congress provided an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas, establish new connections, discuss emerging challenges, and strengthen collaborations across disciplines and countries.
We would also like to acknowledge the institutions that organized CEECFNA 2026: the Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, and Science Park, Comenius University. The organizing team was led by Associate Professor Barbora Vlková and Associate Professor Tomáš Szemes.
Thank you for making CEECFNA 2026 an exceptional scientific meeting. We look forward to continuing the conversation and welcoming you again at future editions of the congress!