Maja Sabol

Maja Sabol is a Senior Research Associate at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb, Croatia, working within the Division of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory for Hereditary Cancer. Her research focuses on the Hedgehog signaling pathway, particularly in ovarian cancer and other malignancies, with expertise in gene editing and molecular oncology.

Dr. Sabol received her graduate education in molecular biology from the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Science (1999-2004), followed by postgraduate studies in molecular and cell biology at the same institution (2005-2010). She also completed specialist studies in project management from the accredited private college "Baltazar Adam Krčelić" (2009-2013), which is equivalent to an MBA.

Her primary research interests span multiple areas of cancer biology, with a strong focus on the Hedgehog-Gli signaling pathway and its role in various cancers. She investigates how this pathway interacts with other signaling mechanisms like estrogen receptor signaling in breast cancer, and how it contributes to tumor progression in ovarian cancer, melanoma, and head and neck cancers. Her work also explores gene editing approaches, DNA damage response mechanisms, and the development of 3D in vitro cancer models to better understand tumor biology and therapeutic resistance.

Analysis of Dr. Sabol's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on the Hedgehog-Gli signaling pathway across multiple cancer types. Her work examines both canonical and non-canonical activation mechanisms of this pathway, with particular attention to GLI transcription factors and their target genes. A significant portion of her research investigates therapeutic targeting of this pathway using compounds like GANT-61 and cyclopamine, while also exploring mechanisms of resistance that develop in cancer cells. Her more recent work has expanded into 3D cancer models and the interplay between Hedgehog signaling and other pathways like MAPK in driving therapeutic resistance.

• Rector's award from the University of Zagreb in academic year 2002/2003
• Best poster award (3rd place) at the IV Croatian Conference on Human Genetics, Malinska, Croatia 2007
• Best poster award at the Rudjer Boskovic Institute ZS3V festival ("Znanstveni susreti treće vrste") in the "Human – From Cell to Organism" topic

Dr. Sabol has served as a teaching assistant in various graduate and postgraduate courses at multiple institutions including the University of Rijeka, University of Applied Health Studies, University of Zagreb, and University of Dubrovnik. Her teaching has focused on signaling pathways, recombinant DNA methodology, and molecular oncology. She has been principal investigator on research projects funded by the Croatian Science Foundation, including the 2019-2022 project "Differential regulation of the GLI code in BRAF/NRAS driven tumors" (IP-01-2018-4889).

Dr. Sabol works within the Laboratory for Hereditary Cancer at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, where she collaborates with researchers including Sonja Levanat, Vesna Musani, Petar Ozretić, and Diana Trnski. Her laboratory work involves molecular techniques to study cancer signaling pathways, with a focus on the Hedgehog-Gli pathway across multiple cancer types. Recent work has expanded into developing 3D in vitro cancer models to better understand tumor-stroma interactions and therapeutic resistance mechanisms.