Curriculum Vitae

Education

• 2002     Secondary school finished in Belgrade, Serbia as the best student in the generation

• 2008     M.D. (Dr. Med.) degree, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine;

• Award for the best medical graduate in the generation (“Nikola Spasic” foundation)

• 2010    Academic specialist degree (Ac. Spec.) in Experimental Physiology and Pathophysiology

• 2013      PhD degree in Molecular Medicine, University of Belgrade

• 2017    Psychiatry Specialist degree (with Honors), University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine

Academic and professional positions and appointments 

2004-2008: “Demonstrator” (Undergraduate teaching assistant – Part time) at The University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Physiology

2009-2011: “Saradnik u nastavi” (Junior Teaching Assistant – Full time position) of physiology, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine

2011-2015: “Asistent” (Teaching Assistant - Full time position) of physiology at The University of Belgrade, School of Medicine (BSc/MS/MD/PhD programs in Serbian and English)

Oct/Nov 2013: Guest professor, University of Salerno, Departments of Systems Biology, Mathematics and Pharmaceutical sciences, Salerno, Italy

August 2017: Visiting Scholar, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel (Laboratory for social cognition and psychophysiology)

December 2017: Visiting scholar, Ben-Gurion University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience

2015-2021: Docent (Assistant Professor) of medical physiology at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine (Physiology BSc/MSc/MD/PhD programs in Serbian and English) 

2017-2019: Member of the Supervisory Board, University Clinic for mental disorders “Laza Lazarevic”, Belgrade, Serbia 

2018-2021: Member of the Governing Board, University Clinic GAK “Narodni front", Belgrade, Serbia

2017-2022: External Research Associate. National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Center, Center for advanced knowledge enablement, A consortium of Florida international, Florida Atlantic, Dubna, and Greenwich Universities. Miami, FL, USA

2022-2024: Adjunct Clinical Professor, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Pharmacology

Current postitions

2021-present: Associate Professor of medical physiology at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine (Physiology BSc/MSc/MD/PhD programs in Serbian and English)

2017-present: Affiliated Professor, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel 

2018-present: Psychiatry Specialist, MediGroup health system, Belgrade, Serbia

2022-present: Principal Research Fellow (Full Research Professor) in the field of Molecular Medicine. Scientific title awarded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia 

2022-present: Visiting Associate Professor, Ben-Gurion University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience

Research positions and projects

2009-present : Head of the Laboratory for Cellular Physiology at the Institute of Medical Physiology, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Serbia

2011-2020: Project research associate, Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Science and Education, Research Projects 175059 and 41027

2013-2015: President of the Scientific Board of The Mediterranean Society for Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes and Hypertension in Pregnancy

2013-2017: Head of the international research project (No. 62013; Title: Physiological and morphological complexity in fetal and postnatal development, and aging) of The Mediterranean Society for Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes and Hypertension in Pregnancy

2018-2022: Head of the international research project (No. 92018; Title: Psychological and psychophysiological aspects of pregnancy, postnatal development, and aging) of The Mediterranean Society for Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes and Hypertension in Pregnancy

2015-2018: Member of the Project 2014/15/B/HS6/03129 of the National Science Centre, Poland (Project Head: Prof. dr Agata Blachnio University John Paul II, Lublin, Poland; Research areas: Psychology, Psychophysiology)

2018-2020: Member of the Project  OPUS 2016/23/B/HS6/03866 „Media multitasking phenomenon: its determinants and effects on task performance“ of the National Science Centre, Poland (Project Head: Prof. dr Agata Blachnio University John Paul II, Lublin, Poland; Research areas: Psychology, Psychophysiology)

2021: Member of the Management Committee / MC Substitute, Project EU COST CA18227 The Core Outcome Measures for Food Allergy (COMFA), European Union

2018-2022: Member of the project and Head of the local project team, Erasmus + Project 598829-EPP-1-2018-1-RS-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP. Erasmus+ - Key Action 2 - Capacity building in the field of higher education, European Union.

2021-2022: Head of the Project, Program of the Fellowship of the Open Society Foundation. Open Society Foundations, Belgrade, Serbia.

Feb 2023-Dec 2023: Member of the scientific project „Repurposing Slaughterhouse Waste to Drive Healthcare Innovation, Economic Development, and Sustainability in the UAE “, Khalifa University of Science & Technology.

Jan 2024-Jun 2025: Member of the scientific project “Rethinking Varicose Vein Disease Treatment: A Functional and Sustainable Hydrogel Based Approach to Improve Vessel Integrity and Patient Outcomes with Early-Stage Varicose Veins” Creo Medical & Khalifa University Abu Dhabi, UAE. 

2022-2025: Head of the Project “Automated sensing system based on fractal, textural and wavelet computational methods for detection of low-level cellular damage”, SensoFracTW, Program IDEJE, Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia.

2024-present: Management Committee (MC) Member, Project EU COST Action CA23156 - European Network for Sigma-1 Receptor as a Therapeutic Opportunity (SIGMA-1EUROPE)

Editor positions, membership in editorial boards

• Journal of Traumatic Stress Disorders & Treatment (Editorial board member)

• Athens Journal of Health (Editorial board member)

• Medicine - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (Academic Editor and member of the Editorial Board)

• Fractal and Fractional (Editorial board member)

• Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (Associate Editor, Section Biosensors and Biomolecular Electronics)

Accreditation and Quality Assurance Roles

• 2019: Completed reviewer training course and obtained reviewer certificate of the National Entity for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education (NEAQA), Serbia.

• 2020-2021. National Entity for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education (NEAQA), Serbia - member and president of accreditation committees for BSc, MSc and PhD programs.

• 2024. Agency for Higher Education of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina – Accreditation of MSc program.

• April 2025: National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement of Georgia - The Head of the accreditation panel for 2 programs (BSc and MSc) for 2 higher education institutions (International University of Tbilisi's Bachelor programme of "Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation" and MA program of "Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation" of Georgian State University of Physical Education and Sport).

Scientific Grant and Project Review Experience

• National Science Centre (NSC-PL), Kraków, Poland- more than 100 grants (in total value > 2000 000 USD)

• Slovak National research agency, Bratislava, Slovakia – more than 20 grants

• Loire Valley Institute for Advanced Studies, Centre-Val de Loire, France

• Hellenic Republic, Ministry of development and investments, General secretariat for research and innovation, Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation, Athens, Greece – more than 10 grants.

• Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Lisbon, Portugal 

• European Science Foundation

• Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO; Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen), Brussels, Belgium

• COST Association, Brussels, Belgium

Awards, prizes and certificates

• 2005. “Award for exemplary research work“, 16th European Students' Conference, Berlin, Germany

• 2008: Award for the best medical graduate in the generation (“Nikola Spasic” foundation)

• 2013: Award for Excellence in reviewing, Biophysical Chemistry journal, Elsevier

• 2015: Award for the best young scientist, University of Belgrade, Faculty of medicine

• 2016: Award for devotion in work with students, University of Belgrade, Faculty of medicine

• 2017: Israel defense force Passover Freedom Certificate in recognition of the support for IDF

• 2017: Award of the University of Belgrade (“Djoka Vlajkovic” Foundation) for the best scientific work in the field of medicine

• 2017: Award for the top reviewer in the field of Neuroscience, Publons Inc. USA

• 2017: Award for the top reviewer in the field of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Publons Inc. USA

• 2021: ranked among top 2% of the most influential world scientists by Stanford University

• 2022: ranked among top 2% of the most influential world scientists by Stanford University 

• 2023: ranked among top 2% of the most influential world scientists by Stanford University

• 2024: ranked among top 2% of the most influential world scientists by Stanford University

Membership in scientific and professional associations:

• Federation of European Neuroscience Societies, Brussels, Belgium

• European Molecular and Cellular Cognition Society, Brussels, Belgium

• British Science Association, London, UK

• Scientists Without Borders, NY, USA

• Institute of Nanotechnology, Glasgow, UK

• IAENG Society of Bioinformatics, Hong Kong, CN

• Mediterranean Society for Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes and Hypertension in Pregnancy

• Serbian Medical Chamber (License to practice medicine No. 111619) 

• Serbian Physiological Society

Fluent in Serbian and English, moderate knowledge of German and French.

Married, one child.