Dr. Danijela Vojnović-Milutinović

I am a Principal Research Fellow at the Department of Biochemistry. I graduated from the Faculty of Biology University of Belgrade, where I also obtained my PhD. Throughout my professional career, I have been involved in several national and international projects, including the European Commission FP6 project “Psychobiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” (#INCO-CT-2004-509213, 2004-2008), and the ongoing Horizon Europe project “Strengthening Translational Research for Improved Metabolic Health” (STRIMHealth) (#101159400, 2024-2027). From 2011 to 2020, I was a lecturer at the Faculty of Biology, teaching PhD students in Molecular Biology of the Cell II.

My expertise is in the field of molecular endocrinology, with focus on steroid signaling in various pathophysiological conditions related to metabolic disorders, obesity, insulin resistance, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Particularly I am interested in the pathophysiology of PCOS, i.e. the vicious cycle that develops between excess androgens, obesity, and insulin resistance in this syndrome. Therefore, I have devoted most of my research to elucidating the molecular mechanisms of these metabolic disturbances in the adipose tissue, muscles, and liver of the PCOS animal model. In long term, my aim is to identify potential drug targets for the treatment of androgen excess and its adverse metabolic consequences in PCOS.

Currently, I am member of the Scientific Committee of the European Society of Endocrinology. I am also Associate Editor for the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, member of the Editorial Board of Hormones International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and member of the Joint Danube Survey of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River. Besides these, I am a member of the Knowledge and Technology Transfer team at IBISS, which has a role in identifying and translating the obtained results from different research areas into protected intellectual property and further products or services.