About me
I obtained my PhD at the Department of Biotechnology, University of Rijeka
where I studied the role of optineurin in neuroinflammation with a particular
focus on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in Ivana Munitic’s lab. Then I
moved to King’s College London and worked for 5 years as a Postdoctoral
Researcher in Chris Miller’s Lab at the Department of Basic and Clinical
Neuroscience. During my time at King’s, I studied ER-mitochondria signalling
mediated by the VAPB-PTPIP51 tethering proteins in frontotemporal
dementia and related ALS (FTD/ALS). I have now returned to the University
of Rijeka to set up my independent research group. I am based at the
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and my research focuses on
understating how communication between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and
mitochondria regulates neuroinflammation in neurodegeneration. For more
info check below.
Qualifications:
2024 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Croatia
2024 Visiting Lecturer, Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, King’s College London, UK
2019-2023 Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, King’s College London, UK
2015-2018 PhD student, Department of Biotechnology, University of Rijeka, Croatia
Awards:
2023 King’s College London, Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience: Published Research article of the year 2022 (runner-up)
2018 Award for presentation of scientific work at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Croatian Immunological Society, Zadar, Croatia
2018 Award for teaching excellence in the academic year 2017. /2018. awarded by the University
of Rijeka
2017 The FEBS Journal Poster Prize for an outstanding poster presentation at the ICGEB meeting: Atypical dementias; from diagnosis to emerging therapies, Trieste, Italy
2016 The Voya Kondic Memorial Prize awarded by British Sholarship Trust for scientific achievement during research scholarship at King’s College London