Miodrag Dragoj

Dr. Miodrag Dragoj is a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Neurobiology, Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković" - National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade. He has been employed at the institute since July 2014 and currently leads project work packages in the TargetedResponse project (IDEJE program) and BioengineeredTumor project (PRIZMA program), both supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia.

Dr. Dragoj graduated in 2013 from the Faculty of Biology at the University of Belgrade, specializing in Molecular Biology and Physiology. He completed his doctoral studies in Molecular Biology (focusing on Molecular Biology of Eukaryotes) at the University of Belgrade in 2018, with a thesis titled "Effects of CXCR4 receptor and focal adhesion kinase inhibition in invasion suppression and overcoming resistance in non-small cell lung cancer." His doctoral research was conducted through the project "Identification of molecular markers for predicting tumor progression, response to therapy, and disease outcome" (III41031), funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.

Dr. Dragoj's research focuses on cancer biology, neurobiology, 3D cell culture techniques, and bioinformatics. His work primarily investigates non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), glioblastoma, and the development of biomimetic tumor models for drug testing. He has made significant contributions to understanding multidrug resistance mechanisms, particularly related to ABC transporters, and developing functional diagnostics for personalized cancer therapy. His research integrates molecular biology techniques with advanced cell culture models to improve cancer treatment strategies.

• Goran Ljubijankić Foundation award for the best doctoral thesis in molecular biology defended in 2018 in Serbia

Dr. Dragoj is actively involved in multiple research projects, including leading work packages in the TargetedResponse project (focusing on functional diagnostics of NSCLC) and the BioengineeredTumor project (developing biomimetic tumor engineering approaches). His work contributes significantly to advancing personalized medicine approaches in oncology through functional screening and biomimetic models.

His research group develops advanced 3D cell culture models, particularly using alginate-based microfibers, to create more accurate representations of tumor microenvironments for drug testing. This work bridges the gap between traditional 2D cell cultures and in vivo models, providing valuable insights for cancer drug development.