Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation

Mr. Bela Balint was born in 1952 in Ostojićevo. He obtained his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, followed by a master’s degree in 1984 and a doctoral degree in 1997. He holds a specialization in transfusiology and a sub-specialization in hematology.

From 1980 to 2018, he worked at the Institute for Transfusiology and Hemobiology of the Military Medical Academy (MMA), serving as the head of the institute from 2010.

From 2018 to 2021 was the head of the Transfusion Department at IKVB (Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (? ).

In the period from 1997 to 2015, Academician Bela Balint worked as an experimental hematologist at the Institute for Medical Research of the University of Belgrade.

Since 2022, he has been working at the MMA’s Faculty of Medicine as a professor emeritus.

Mr. Balint was a full professor at the MMA and a scientific advisor at the Ministry of Science. He also teaches at the postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade and is a visiting professor at the medical faculties in Niš, Banja Luka, and Štip.

He is also an instructor at the European School of Transfusiology (Milan, Italy).
Since 2023, has been a member of the Council of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade.

In 2002, he became an associate member, and in 2008 a full member of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the Serbian Medical Society (SMS).

He has been a full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA) since 2021, and in 2022 was elected a full member of the SASA Branch in Novi Sad.

He serves as President of the National Council for Higher Education of the Republic of Serbia for the terms 2018–2022 and 2022–2026.

Mr. Balint has published 937 scientific papers. He is the author and editor of 20 monographs and serves as editor of several professional journals.

He has led numerous scientific research projects and was the first in the world to introduce certain novel therapeutic procedures.

It is noteworthy that Academician Balint is one of the founders of the Stem Cell Transplantation Center and the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Military Medical Academy (MMA).

He introduced and refined methods for the collection and cryopreservation of stem cells using original techniques for use in transplantation and regenerative medicine.

Mr. Balint has received numerous awards and honors, among them the Order of Sretenje, First Class, awarded by the President of the Republic in 2024 for achievements in the field of medicine, and the Serbian Medical Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025.