Dr. Jasna Šaponjić

I received my MD degree in 1986, MSci degree in 1990 and PhD degree in 1996 at Medical School University of Belgrade, Republic of Serbia (former Yugoslavia).

After my postdoctoral period, first at the Department of Neurophysiology of Medical School University of Patras, Greece (2000-2001) as a fellow of the European Concerted Action and Epilepsy Research (EUCARE, Brussels, Belgium) and at Medical School University of Illinois at Chicago (2001-2002), I was a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Center for Narcolepsy Research at the Medical School University of Illinois, Chicago, USA (2003-2006). I returned to the Institute for Biological Research – Sinisa Stankovic, first as a Research Associate (2006-2007), then as a Senior Research Associate (2007-2012).

Since 2012 I have been employed as Principal Research Fellow in the Department of Neurobiology, Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković", - National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Republic of Serbia.

My area of expertise is the neuroscience and neurobiology of sleep. My current research focuses on the neurobiology of sleep disorders and disturbances of motor control during sleep in in vivo animal models of healthy aging and neurodegenerative diseases of the elderly, in particular sleep disorders as a prodromal sign of Parkinson’s disease and the risks of general anesthesia for postoperative outcomes in neurodegenerative diseases.

I have been a reviewer for many international journals, supervised three PhD theses and was a member of five PhD thesis evaluation and defense committees from 2011 to 2017.
I am a member of ESRS, FENS, Serbian Neuroscience Society and Serbian Biophysical Society.