Dr. Mirko Đorđević

I received my PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade in 2017. My research interest covers evolution of ageing and the role of the interaction between mitochondrial and nuclear genome (mito-nuclear interaction) in life history evolution. I employ specific laboratory lines of the seed beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus that have been selected for early reproduction/short life and late reproduction/long life over more than 250 generations. A recent objective of my work is to understand the sex-specific effects of mitochondrial mutations on reproductive output and other life history traits as part of a evolutionary phenomenon known as the Mother’s Curse. The identification of these male-biased mutations can be used for the development of the novel fertility-based pest control method called the Trojan female technique.

I have received a DAAD Short-Term Research Grant in 2013 and spent three months at the Cluster of Excellence CECAD, Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Germany. I was also the stipend winner of the grant "Start Up For Science" for the empowerment of young researchers in Serbia in 2018 and 2020. I am currently a member of the project "Experimental evolution approach in developing insect pest control methods ELEVATE", number 7683961, 2022-2025, as part of the Idea Programme of the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia. Additionally, I am involved in the science popularization, most recently as PI of the citizen science project "Obtectus Finders" (https://www.opasuljise.rs/en/) that is funded by the Center for the Promotion of Science (2019 - present). I am a member of the Serbian Evolutionary Society (SES), the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) and the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA).