معرفی
Maja Herak Bosnar is a distinguished Associate Professor and scientific advisor at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, where she serves as a Member of the Board of Governors and works within the Division of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory for protein dynamics. She holds academic appointments at University Josip Juraj Strossmayer Osijek and University in Dubrovnik, where she teaches doctoral courses in Molecular Basis of Metastasis Formation and Cancer Genetics and Tumor Cell Biology.
Her educational background includes B.Sc. (1993), M.Sc. (1996), and Ph.D. (2002) in molecular biology from the Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Zagreb. Her research spans molecular biology, cancer research, and metastasis suppression, with a particular focus on NME/Nm23/NDPK proteins and their role in cancer progression.
Her publication record demonstrates a consistent research trajectory examining the evolutionary conservation of cancer-related genes, with particular emphasis on mitochondrial NME6 protein function. Her recent work (2022-2024) shows increasing focus on mitochondrial dynamics in tumor cells, resistance mechanisms in melanoma, and the evolutionary conservation of metastasis suppressors across diverse organisms from sponges to humans. Her research integrates molecular biology, evolutionary perspectives, and clinical oncology to understand fundamental cancer mechanisms.
- Annual reward of the Ruđer Bošković Institute for scientific publication (2020)
- Annual reward of the Ruđer Bošković Institute for scientific publication (2018)
- Annual reward 'Josip Juraj Strossmayer' for the best scientific publication (2007)
Dr. Herak Bosnar has supervised numerous doctoral and master's theses, mentoring researchers who have investigated topics ranging from nm23-H1 gene function in cell adhesion to resistance mechanisms in melanoma. She has led multiple significant research projects including the Croatian Scientific Foundation project 'Structure, function and evolution of Nme6/Nm23-H6 gene/protein' and French-Croatian bilateral projects on mitochondrial NME proteins. She serves on the Oversight Committee of the Croatian Association for Cancer Research and the Executive Committee of the Croatian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
She leads research in the Laboratory for protein dynamics at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, where her team investigates protein localization, mitochondrial dynamics, and evolutionary conservation of cancer-related pathways using diverse model systems from human cell lines to sponge models.
