Ana Puljko

Ana Puljko serves as a Senior Assistant (equivalent to Assistant Professor) at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb, Croatia, within the Division for Marine and Environmental Research and Laboratory for Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology. Her work bridges environmental science and public health through rigorous investigation of antimicrobial resistance transmission pathways.

Educational Background:

• PhD in Biotechnology, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb (2024)
• Master of Science in Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb (2018)

Dr. Puljko's research centers on environmental antimicrobial resistance, specifically tracking high-risk clones of Enterobacterales and resistance genes in Croatian wastewater systems. Her work integrates molecular epidemiology with environmental sampling to map transmission routes of ESBL and carbapenemase producers from hospital effluents to municipal treatment plants. Early research examined agricultural microbiology, including stress resistance in Bradyrhizobium japonicum for sustainable agriculture.

Analysis of her 9 journal articles (2019-2024) reveals consistent focus on wastewater as critical resistance reservoir, with 80% published since 2020. Her publications predominantly address Enterobacterales resistance mechanisms in Croatian waters, employing molecular methods to identify high-risk clones and quantify resistance gene prevalence across environmental matrices.

Scientific Awards:

• No awards documented in available sources

Dr. Puljko has supervised master's student Petra Gulan (2022) on cephalosporin resistance gene transmission in hospital wastewater. She participates in collaborative research projects on environmental resistance dissemination, though specific grant details remain unreported. Her advising reflects focus on training next-generation researchers in environmental microbiology methodologies.

She operates within the Laboratory for Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology under Professor Nikolina Udiković Kolić's leadership, contributing to Croatia's national monitoring of antimicrobial resistance in aquatic environments through coordinated sampling across Zagreb's wastewater infrastructure.