Ana Stepanović

Ana Stepanović holds a master’s degree in molecular biology, from Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade. She was awarded for the best master thesis in molecular biology by the Foundation "Goran Ljubijankić." She is a fourth-year PhD student at the Faculty of Biology, specializing in physiology - Translational research in neurobiology and biomedicine. She started her doctoral studies in 2020. Her PhD thesis focuses on the development of new hybrid compounds of sclareol and doxorubicin and testing their anticancer properties under the mentorship of Dr. Milica Pešić. Part of the thesis results are submitted in national and PCT patent applications "Hybrid compounds of sclareol and doxorubicin, their synthesis and application“, Priority date: November 14th, 2022, PCT Application No: PCT/RS2023/000016. Additionally, Ana is a team member on two projects funded by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, "PhotoSCLART" project: development of nature-inspired photoresponsive anticancer agents - sclareol and artemisinin derivatives in cancer multidrug-resistance models: a foundation for the theranostic approach" and "TargetedResponse" project: Functional diagnostics in non-small cell lung carcinoma—a new concept for the improvement of personalized therapy in Serbian patients. Ana is also a member of the IBISS project "Proof of Concept" "Innovative hybrid compounds of sclareol and doxorubicin as new antitumor strategy in glioblastoma therapy" (SCLarDOXInn) and team member of Serbian Academy of Sciences (SANU) project entitled "Biomedical potential of newly isolated diterpenes of milk thistle latex in Serbia". She was a member of the Organizing Committee in the sixth congress of SDIR, "From Collaboration to Innovation in Cancer Research" in 2023, and COST Action CA17104, "New diagnostic and therapeutic tools against multidrug-resistant tumors" in 2020. Ana is a member of the Serbian Society of Cancer Researchers, the European Association of Cancer Research, the Society for Neuroscience of Serbia, and the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies.