Irena Lavrnja

Dr. Irena Lavrnja is a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Biological Research 'Siniša Stanković' (IBISS) within the University of Belgrade's Department of Neurobiology. Her career progression includes roles as Research Trainee (2001), Research Assistant (2003), Research Associate (2008), Senior Research Associate (2013), and since 2018, Principal Research Fellow. She holds a PhD in Neurobiology (2008) from the University of Belgrade.

• Education
• Bachelor's in Biology (2000)
• Master's in Neurobiology (2003)
• PhD in Neurobiology (2008)

Dr. Lavrnja's research focuses on neuroinflammation, investigating cellular and molecular mechanisms to identify therapeutic targets for suppressing harmful inflammation and enhancing beneficial responses. Her work employs experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and traumatic brain injury animal models, in vitro cell culture, molecular/cellular biology techniques, and neuroimaging.

Scientific contributions include:

• 2010 STSM Fellowship (COST B30, Innsbruck)
• 2015 EMBO Short-Term Fellowship (Karolinska Institute)
• Member of Editorial Board, Scientific Reports (Springer Nature, since 2018)
• Review Editor, Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience (since 2022)

Research leadership includes:

• Principal Investigator for Science Fund of Serbia project
• Participant in 3 national and 2 international bilateral (DAAD) projects

She has supervised 2 awarded PhD theses and 1 Master's thesis, and served on committees for 5 PhD and 2 Master's defenses.