Zdenka Matijasevic

Affiliations

• Assistant Professor at UMass Chan Medical School, Department of Pediatrics
• Additional roles at T.H. Chan School of Medicine and Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Education

University of Zagreb, Croatia:

• B.S. Biotechnology
• M.S. Microbial Genetics
• Ph.D. Environmental Mutagenesis

Research Overview

Zdenka Matijasevic's work focuses on

• Molecular mechanisms of MdmX in regulating p53 pathways and suppressing tumorigenesis
• Role of hypothermia in cancer therapy through p53-dependent cell cycle arrest
• DNA repair processes (BER/NER) in response to sulfur mustard and other carcinogens
• Stem cell reprogramming for disease modeling via the UMass Chen TAM Core's Stem Cell Facility

Key Findings

Her research demonstrates that MdmX prevents chromosomal instability in p53-deficient cells and that hypothermia can selectively protect normal cells during chemotherapy. Major contributions include elucidating DNA repair enzyme roles in mustard gas toxicity and developing iPS cell models for disease studies.