Svjetlana Dekić Rozman

Svjetlana Dekić Rozman is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Her current research focuses on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) transmission dynamics in environmental reservoirs, particularly wastewater systems in Croatia, supported by the Academy of Finland's Centre of Excellence for Antimicrobial Resistance Research (AMR-CoE) from 2024 to 2026.

Her research interests center on environmental microbiology and antimicrobial resistance epidemiology, with emphasis on wastewater as a critical pathway for AMR dissemination. She investigates bacterial hosts of beta-lactamase genes, molecular mechanisms of carbapenem/colistin resistance in Enterobacterales, and survival dynamics of multidrug-resistant pathogens like Acinetobacter baumannii in aquatic environments. Her work bridges clinical microbiology and environmental science to address public health threats from waterborne resistance.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals a consistent focus on Croatian wastewater systems as reservoirs for high-risk resistance genes. Her studies employ advanced molecular techniques to track ESBL/carbapenemase-producing pathogens across hospital-municipal wastewater interfaces, demonstrating how treatment plants fail to eliminate clinically significant resistance determinants. This research provides critical evidence for AMR surveillance in environmental matrices.

As a participant in the Academy of Finland's AMR-CoE project (2024-2026), she contributes to this multidisciplinary initiative led by Professor Markkula Virta. Her international collaboration includes an academic visit to the University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin) from February to April 2024, expanding her work into African wastewater contexts while maintaining core focus on Balkan environmental AMR dynamics.