Belgrade, May 15 – 50 years of existence of the MMA’s Nuclear Medicine Institute was marked with an official  meeting held at the MMA’s amphitheater, in the presence of the most responsible heads of the Military Medical Academy, nuclear medicine specialists from all clinical hospitals and university centers in Serbia, with whom the MMA’s experts have established successful cooperation.

A warm welcome was extended to the guests by the head of the MMA’s Nuclear Medicine Institute, Prof. Dr. Boris Ajdinović. Addressing all the present to that occasion, the MMA’s head, Major General Prof. Dr. Miodrag Jevtić said: ‘’Ladies and gentlemen, as the  leader of this  temple  of Serbian health and humanity,    I am extremely honored and proud to be here with you in this amphitheater, in this house of knowledge, where, on the basis of  plenty of facts and professional and scientific achievements   we are going to   recall and mark 50 years of work of the  Nuclear Medicine Institute.
Precursor of the Institute, Department for Applications of Radioactive Isotopes in Medicine of the MMA’s Clinic for Internal Diseases was established and officially began its operation on May 15, 1959 under the command of Col. Milovan Antić, MD.
The fact that the radionuclide therapy was applied for the first time in our country in 1956 at the Military Medical Academy for the treatment of chronic leukemia speaks  for the enthusiasm and visionary work of doctor Antić, whose name   the most prestige award in the field of nuclear medicine bears.
In the years that followed, necessary equipment was provided and medical personnel employed. Thus, at the time when the Department was opened, it was the most advanced department in this part of Europe equipped with sophisticated and state-of- the-art equipment for nuclear medicine. It continued to develop according to the highest professional standards as the Military Medical Academy did
In 1081, the Military Medical Academy moved into a monumental building on the Banjica hill, which is the pride of  our architecture and, as our people used to call it and we keep repeating it proudly ‘the Patriarchate of Serbian Medicine and the pride of our country and its Armed Forces. It was the time when the Nuclear Medicine Institute was established   as an organizationally independent unit of the MMA’s Group of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Institutes. The main features of that Institute were and still are highly qualified professional team, wide array of diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear-medical methods applied in the routine practice, respective teaching, scientific-research and publishing activity. The Institute managed to keep its prestige position even in the years of great challenges for our people, military and the state. Even today, the Institute is the pride of our house, the place where more than 150 nuclear-medical diagnostic and therapeutic methods and analyses are performed and an average of 25.000 patients are admitted each year.
  In line with its strategic direction, the Military Medical Academy will provide full support to the Institute in terms of further education of its personnel, upgrading of equipment and introduction of new methods, in order to keep abreast with the world and to ensure its  position based on its   results in this field among referral nuclear-medical centers in the world.
There is a large project and a great challenge that lay ahead, and that is the introduction of  PET technology into the Institute’s practice to circle its complete diagnostic diapason of the most advanced nuclear-medical methods, which are very precious in early diagnosis, monitoring and treatment and are in line with the MMA’s maxim –‘’ in the service of health and the country!’’. I would like to congratulate the Institute’s staff members who are successfully led by Prof. Boris Ajdinović on the first 50 years of their work and wish them to continue without any delays and slackening!’’
In the following, the head of the Nuclear Medicine Institute, Prof. Dr. Boris Ajdinović presented the retrospective on 50 years of  development of the military nuclear medicine, current organizational structure and functioning of the Institute as well as the vision of its future development  and advancement.
‘’It’s a great honor for us and our obligation as well   to bequeath our future generation this Institute  boasting the state-of-the-art technology and  top scientific and research personnel. We also  have a great responsibility and obligation towards those we have learned from, those whose visions and work  have contributed a great deal in having here, at the Military Medical Academy,  modern nuclear medicine, what  many Armed Forces in the world cannot boast , said Prof. Ajdinović
In the end, the MMA’s head awarded special letters of thanks for great contributions to the development of military nuclear medicine to retired colonels Prof. Dr. Miodrag Odavić and Prof. Dr. Stevan Marković, ex-heads of the MMA’s Nuclear Medicine Center and former staff members of the Institute: Prim.   Dragutin Tajfel, MD   Angel Lazarov, MD, Damjanović  Ana, Marija Rastovac,  Rajko Spaić, Čedić Radomir,  Piletić Jovan and Udovičić Radmila.
General Jevtić presented special MMA’s badges to the institutions with which the Military Medical Academy had a very successful cooperation in the field of nuclear medicine such as Nuclear Medicine Institute of the Clinical Center of Serbia, Nuclear Medicine Institution of the Oncology Institute in Sremska Kamenica, Nuclear Medicine Service of the Clinical Center in Kragujevac, Nuclear Medicine Service of the Health Center in Zaječar, MEDICA NUCLEARE Laboratory in Belgrade, Institute for Application of Nuclear Energy –INEP in Zemun and  „Vinča“ - Nuclear Sciences Institute’s Laboratory for Production of Isotopes.
On the occasion of 50 years of the existence of the MMA’s Nuclear Medicine Institute, a monograph on the history, development and perspectives of this MMA’s organizational unit in the light of the latest achievements in the field of nuclear medicine was published.