ZL Pro, Author at Institut za molekularnu genetiku i genetičko inženjerstvo

Academician Milena Stevanović was awarded for her contribution to the development of molecular biology in Serbia by the Serbian Society for Molecular Biology (MolBioS)

Congratulations to Academician Milena Stevanović, who was awarded for her contribution to the development of molecular biology in Serbia by the Serbian Society for Molecular Biology (MolBioS). The award ceremony took place at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts on October 8th. Prof. Dr. Gordana Matić highlighted Academician Milena Stevanović’s significant contributions to genetic engineering, human molecular genetics, elucidating molecular mechanisms of oncogenesis and neurogenesis, as well as disease modeling. Academician Milena Stevanović also made a great impact on the Faculty of Biology at the University of Belgrade through her dedication to student education. Prof. Dr. Gordana Matić also emphasized that Academician Milena Stevanović should be regarded as a symbol of molecular biology in Serbia.

Additionally, Prof. Dr. Goran Brajušković acknowledged Academician Milena Stevanović’s substantial contributions to the development and promotion of molecular biology in Serbia. At the conclusion, Academician Milena Stevanović shared her journey from her early days as a student, from her first SOX gene cloning to the first images of human induced pluripotent stem cells generated in Serbia, highlighting the beauty of molecular biology.

Academician Milena Stevanović considers her greatest success to be leaving a laboratory full of researchers capable of independently carrying on the research work.

STREAMLINE outreach at VII Congress of the Serbian Genetic Society

VII Congress of the Serbian Genetic Society was held from October 2nd to October 5th, 2024. at Zlatibor mountain of extraordinary beauty, and pleasant climate. This Congress covered many fields of genetics including molecular genetics and genomics, medical genetics and personalized medicine, population and evolutionary genetics, microbial genetics, breeding and genetic engineering, genotoxicology, new technologies, and others. This was a great opportunity to increase the visibility of the STREAMLINE Project and STREAMLINE hub among academic public. Accordingly, within the congress STREAMLINE team organized thematic workshop: “STREAMLINE hub for modelling disease and discovering molecular mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders”. The majority of attendees was Congress participants that had an opportunity to learn about the latest iPSCs-based approaches for studying neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as to join STREAMLINE hub.

As invited speaker, dr Danijela Drakulic, presented STREAMLINE outputs through lecture “Establishment of a model system for studying neurodevelopmental disorders using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from patients with 22q11.2 Deletion” within session Medical genetics. The main focused of the lecture was on STREAMLINE Exploratory Research Project and how far we have come in designing a new iPSCs-based tool for unveiling neuropathological mechanisms of human neurodevelopmental disorders.

During poster sesions, the youngest STREAMLINE team members Jovana Kostić and Ivana Simeunović presented their PhD topics in form of posters – “Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells with 22q11.2 microdeletion: a model system for investigating neurodevelopmental disorders” and “Characterization of induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with 22q11.2 Duplication Syndrome”, subsequently. Particularly, they briefly introduced the establishment of iPSCs from patients with 22q11.2 duplication and deletion syndrome as model systems for studying neurodevelopmental disorders.

STREAMLINE at Netherlands School of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology

In the period from 23rd to 27th September, PhD students from STREAMLINE team Stefan Lazić, Jelena Pejić, Luka Bojić, Jovana Kostić and Ivana Simeunović attended the course Multi-Omics and Data Sciences in Complex Disease held at the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands. The course is organized by the Netherlands School of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (BioSB), which focuses on knowledge exchange and training in these areas.

During their stay in the Netherlands, they had the opportunity to hear more about current developments in the field of epigenomics, epigenome wide association studies (EWAS), as well as to apply the knowledge in practice on examples. In addition, the topics of the course were related to the design of studies in molecular epidemiology, machine learning, but also the integration of different types of data. Participants also had the opportunity to talk to experts in these fields about their experiments and analysis of their own data.

Thanks again to organizers from Netherlands School of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology from Maastricht for this great opportunity.

STREAMLINE hub for modelling diseases and discovering molecular mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders

It is our great pleasure to announce the thematic workshop “STREAMLINE hub for modelling diseases and discovering molecular mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders” at the VII Congress of the Serbian Genetic Society that will be held at Zlatibor from October 2^nd to October 5^th, 2024.

On the second day of the Congress, Thursday October 3^rd, we will organize the thematic workshop dedicated to the latest iPSCs-based approaches for studying neurodevelopmental disorders.

Also, within the Congress dr Danijela Drakulic will give the lecture “Establishment of a model system for studying neurodevelopmental disorders using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from patients with 22q11.2 Deletion” and Ivana Simeunovic and Jovana Kostic will have poster presentations titled “Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells with 22q11.2 microdeletion: a model system for investigating neurodevelopmental disorders” and “Characterization of induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with 22q11.2 Duplication Syndrome”, subsequently.

Here you can find more information and scientific program of the VII Congress of the Serbian Genetic Society:

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13th Biennial International 22q11.2 Scientific Meeting

From July 16 to 18, 2024, Dr. Danijela Drakulic, Dr.Mina Peric, and Dr.Natasa Kovacevic Grujicic from IMGGE and Dr. Goran Cuturilo, University Children’s Hospital, Belgrade, attended the 13th Biennial International 22q11.2 Scientific Meeting at Praia D’El Rey Golf and Beach Resort, Obidos, Portugal.

Danijela gave a presentation „Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Carrying 22q11.2 CNVs as a Model System for Studying Neurodevelopmental Disorders” in Session TRANSITION, TRANSCRIPTION, AND iPSCS, and Goran attended Session COORDINATION, INTERVENTIONS, AND OUTCOMES with presentation “An Overview of 22q11.2 Diagnostic and Research Facilities in the Countries of The Western Balkan Region”.

Also, we have organized workshop where members of the STREAMLINE project, Danijela Drakulic, Adrian Harwood, and Janet Harwood, and STREAMLINE Advisory Board member, Goran Cuturilo, presented the project and current results.

STREAMLINE Summer School “Identification of key genes and novel drug targets for neurodevelopmental disorders”

The second STREAMLINE school dedicated to the latest research methodologies and approaches for Identification of key genes and novel drug targets for neurodevelopmental disorders was held from 4th to 6th of June at the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) in Thessaloniki, Greece. This Summer School was organized by CERTH and Maastricht University and gathered 31 PhD students and 8 researchers from Serbia and Bosnia. During this three-days event the young researchers had an opportunity to learn, throughout lectures and hands on trainings, about current state-of-the-art methodologies for identification of key genes and novel drug targets for neurodevelopmental disorders. The attendees got guidelines, from the experts in the field, on the methods of GWAS and imaging genetics, epigenetics and methylation analysis, microRNA analysis, methods and algorithms for in silico screening, pathway modelling, drug-related databases, PRS calculation algorithms and cell-based assays for experimental validation of selected compounds. This Summer School offered an excellent environment for fruitful discussions and new connections. We hope that this experience will be beneficial for their career and for further scientific discoveries.

We owe a great appreciation to all participants and speakers, as well as to our host Dr. Spyros Petrakis from CERTH, Thessaloniki, Greece.

77th anniversary of the Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”

On Friday, May 31, 2024, the Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” – an Institute of national importance for the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade celebrated 77 years since the establishment. On this occasion, the Institute organized a traditional celebration. The first part of the celebration was the scientific part comprising of a series of lectures, which was followed by a festive part and awards ceremony. Dr Danijela Drakulić had a great honour to present STREAMLINE project as an esteemed guest during scientific segment of this program.

Dan Instituta 2024 (bg.ac.rs)

22q at the Zoo – Worldwide Awareness Day

On Sunday, May 21st, two of our researchers attended the “22q at the Zoo – Worldwide Awareness Day” in Subotica, at the Palić zoo. The event was organized by non-governmental and non-profit association “22q ex YU”, founded by parents of children with microdeletion 22q11.2 who live in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The main initiator of the event at worldwide level was the International 22q11.2 Foundation. This worldwide event gathers around families and friends of patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, and also professionals in this area, giving them a chance to socialize and raise public awareness of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Participants are recognizable by red T-shirts.

This year, our two researchers spread awareness at the Subotica zoo by handing out 22q11.2 fact sheets and educating guests and zoo visitors about the syndrome and STREAMLINE goals and activities. Our researchers spent the day with patients and their families, enjoying the nature, watching animals and visiting kids adventure park. They gained insight into the life of patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and their daily struggles, but also became familiar with their way of thinking and their many talents.

On this occasion, participants were introduced to the importance of the STREAMLINE project, the research and application potential of the “iPSC-based” model system. To our delight a lot of the participants already knew a lot about our project, some even attended our two symposiums dedicated to families and friends of patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

It was a wonderful Sunday, see you again next year!

STREAMLINE visiting Kovin

On Friday, May 17, Jovana Kostić visited the primary school “Đura Jakšić” in Kovin within the program Researchers Night SCIMFONICOM, where students head a great opportunity to hear interesting facts about stem cells and neurodevelopmental disorders and to get introduces with STREAMLINE project, funded by the EU.

Održan prvi STREAMLINE „Industry open day“

U četvrtak 16. maja u Svečanoj Sali Rektorata Univerziteta u Beogradu održan je prvi STREAMLINE „Industry open day“. Učesnici su imali prilike da se kroz seriju predavanja iz oblasti nauke i inovacija upoznaju sa STREAMLINE projektom, radom Sektora za transfer tehnologija Instituta za molekularnu genetiku i genetičko inženjerstvo Univerziteta u Beogradu, primerom nastanka Spin-out kompanije, povezanošću istraživanja i industrije, koracima koji su potrebni od fundamentalnog istraživanja do komercijalne održivosti, strategijom prekliničkih istraživanja potencijalnih terapeutika, preprekama i izazovima za primenu ćelijske terapije u kliničkoj praksi i istraživanjima u dečijoj i adolescentnoj psihijatriji kao preduslov za efikasne rane intervencije. Ovo je bila dobra prilika za umrežavanje, povezivanje, uzajamno druženje i razmenu iskustava između akademskih eksperata, savetnika za komercijalizaciju istraživanja i predstavnika farmaceutskih kuća.

Na ovom događaju svečano je obeleženo formiranje STREAMLINE HUB-a, organizacione jedinice koja za cilj ima da okupi entuzijaziste iz oblasti istraživanja neurorazvojnih poremećaja, a sve u cilju pronalaženja rešenja za ova sve češća oboljenja savremenog sveta.

Hvala svima na učešću. Vidimo se na sledećem STREAMLINE „Industry open day“-u.