Dr. Magdalena Stevanović

Field of research

B 001 General biomedical sciences 

T 152 Composite materials

T 390 Polymer technology, biopolymers

T 410 Pharmaceuticals and related technologies

T 490 Biotechnology

P 400 Physical chemistry

Biography and education

Born in Belgrade in 1974.

• PhD thesis: 2007 University of Belgrade - Faculty of Physical Chemistry
  Title: Synthesis, characterization and degradation of poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) nanospheres containing ascorbic acid

• MSc thesis (non-Bologna compliant): 2006 University of Belgrade - Faculty of Physical Chemistry
  Title: Obtaining, morphology and structure of poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) powder and biocomposite poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide)/biphasic calcium phosphate

• BSc thesis:  2002 University of Belgrade - Faculty of Physical Chemistry
  Title: Determining the hormone of thyroid gland T3 and T4 using a method of radioimmunology analysis with different systems for separating loose from linked radioactivity

Research and academic titles

2017- Principal Research Fellow

2012-2017 Senior Research Associate

2008 -2012 Research Associate

2007-2008 Research Assistant

2003-2007 Junior Research Assistant

2002-2003 Postgraduate Internship (one-year program that provides on-the-job learning experiences) Nuclear Medicine Institute, Military Medical Academy, Belgrade, 09/2002-09/2003.

Working at the Institute since 2003.

Research areas

The expertise of Dr. Stevanović is in the fields of materials science, nanotechnology, nanomaterials, nanomedicine, biomaterials, polymeric materials, and controlled drug delivery. Her research is especially focused on the synthesis and characterization of biocompatible micro and nanoparticles (micro-and nanospheres without and with encapsulated medicament) that have application in controlled drug delivery, tissue engineering, nanomedicine, and diagnostics. 

Keywords: controlled drug delivery, nanomaterials, nanomedicine, biomedical research, biomaterials, material characterization, FTIR and UV/VIS spectrophotometry

Professional development

Study visits

• Institute of Biomaterials at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, collaboration with Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini, in 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2021
• National Institute of Biology, Department for Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia, collaboration with Prof. Dr. Metka Filipič, in January 2012 and December 2017.
• Technical University of Vienna, Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Vienna, Austria, within the collaboration with Prof. Dr. Jurgen Stampfl, May 2019 and December 2021
• Department of Molecular Biotechnologies and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Italy, cooperation with Prof. Silvio Aime on biodegradable polymeric particles for MRI imaging, (Partners in Europe) June/July 2014 and September 2016
• University of Eastern Piedmont Amedeo Avogadro, Università del Piemonte Orientale A. Avogadro, Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica – DISIT, Italy, within the collaboration with Dr. Giuseppe Digilio, 2016
• Dr. Stevanović also leads collaboration with Prof. George Loudos Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Faculty of Technological Applications, Greece

Certificates

• Continuous improvement programme certificate, Fundamental and Applications of Controlled Release and Drug Delivery, 23 May 2013, Belgrade, Course Lecturer Prof Nicholas A. Peppas (Fletcher Pratt Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Austin)

•  Medical Assistant with Faculty Level Education State Certification, Ministry of Health, June 2004

Support to research career development

• Dr. Magdalena Stevanović has actively participated in the formation of a research group whose research focuses on new materials, controlled drug delivery, nanomedicine, biomedical engineering. She is the head of the thematic research group at ITS SASA Group for biomedical engineering and nanobiotechnology 
• Visiting professor at the University of Erlangen, 2019
• Within the projects led by Dr. Stevanović, her associates visited the University of Erlangen (Germany), the University of Turin (Italy), the University of Alexandria (Italy), the National Institute of Biology (Slovenia), the Technical University, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering (Austria)

Mentoring work

PhD theses

• Nenad Filipović, Synthesis and characterization of poly (epsilon-caprolactone) / selenium nanoparticles biocomposite at the Faculty of Physical Chemistry, University of Belgrade, 2018 (Advisor)
• Željko V. Janićijević, Composite reservoirs with crosslinked poly(acrylic acid) hydrogel for controlled drug delivery via nonspecific electrical interactions, University of Belgrade - School of Electrical Engineering, 2020 (Referee)
• Dušan J. Ušjak, Influence of newly-synthesized chalcone derivatives on growth, biofilm production, and virulence factors expression of multiresistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Pharmacy, 2022 (Referee)
• Supervision of the work of doctoral student Nina Tomić, employed at ITN SANU since August 1, 2020. Nina Tomić defended her doctoral project on January 12, 2021, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Biology, title: Synthesis and characterization of resveratrol composites and examination of its biological activities.

Master theses

• Petar Stupar, Synthesis, characterization and cytocompatibility of lyophilized spherical particles of poly (epsilon-caprolactone) and examination of their influence on the formation of reactive oxygen radicals, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Physical Chemistry, 2013 (http://www.itn.sanu.ac.rs/magistarski.html) (Advisor)

National and international projects

National projects

• 2011-2019 Molecular designing of nanoparticles with controlled morphological and physicochemical characteristics and functional materials based on them, Grant No. III45004, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia
• 2006–2010 Synthesis of functional materials with a controlled structure on molecular and nano levels, Project No. 142006, Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia
• 2003–2005 Molecular designing of the monolith and composite materials, Project No. 1431, Ministry of Science, Technology and Development of the Republic of Serbia

International projects

• 2021-2025 COST Action: CA20130 - European MIC Network – New paths for science, sustainability, and standards
• 2020-2021 Biocompatible engineered therapeutics based on bioactive glass scaffolds, Serbia - Germany Science & Technology Cooperation (Coordinator)
• 2018-2022 Scaffolds with controlled 3-D architecture designed by photopolymerization, Serbian - Austria Science & Technology Cooperation (Coordinator)
• 2017-2022 European Cooperation in Science and Technology-CA COST Action CA16217 - European network of multidisciplinary research to improve the urinary stents (ENIUS) (Management Committee Member) 
• 2016-2020 European Cooperation in Science and Technology - CA COST Action CA15114 Anti-Microbial Coating Innovations to prevent infectious diseases (AMICI) (Management Committee Member)
• 2016-2018 Imaging labelled biomaterials for cell-therapy follow-up by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Biomateriali incorporanti agenti di contrasto per Risonanza Magnetica ad Immagini per il follow-up delle terapie cellular), Grande Rilevanza, Farnesina, Ministero Degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale, 2016-2018. Research projects of particular relevance (Coordinator)
• 2016-2017 Biocompatible engineered particles and scaffolds for drug delivery and regenerative medicine, Serbia-Slovenia Science & Technology Cooperation (Coordinator)
• 2014-2015 Scaffolds with therapeutic functionality, Serbia-Germany Science & Technology Cooperation, DAAD project ID 57060741 (Coordinator) 
• 2011-2015 European Cooperation in Science and Technology-COST TD1004 (Chemistry and Molecular Sciences and Technologies (CMST), Theranostics Imaging and Therapy: An Action to Develop Novel Nanosized Systems for Imaging-Guided Drug Delivery (Management Committee Member)
• 2008–2009, INCOMAT (FP6-032918) Creating international cooperation teams of excellence in the field of emerging biomaterial surface research, European Commission

Scholarly publishing activities

Guest Associate Editor

• Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
• Frontiers in Materials

Editorial Board Member

• Advances in Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology Research (ISSN: 2688-5476)
• Associate Editor for the publishing house Versita (during 2012)

Peer-review

Materials Research Bulletin, Biomaterials, Acta Biomaterialia, Journal of Nanobiotechnology, Chemical Engineering Journal, RSC Advances, Nanomedicine-UK, Macromolecular Chemistry & Physics, Journal of Biomaterials Science: Polymer Edition, Nanotechnology, Langmuir, Biomedical Materials, Science of Advanced Materials, Journal of Hazardous Materials, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, BioInorganic Reaction Mechanisms, Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, Materials Letters, Scientific Reports (Nature publishing group),  Hemijska industrija, Tehnika – Novi materijali

Membership and service

Conference bodies

• Organizer of the Annual Meeting of the COST Action TD1004, Theranostics Imaging and Therapy: An Action to Develop Novel Nanosized Systems for Imaging-Guided Drug Delivery, Belgrade, 10-11 September 2015
• Organizer of the Annual Meeting of the COST Action CA16217, European network of multidisciplinary research to improve the urinary stents (ENIUS), Belgrade, 5-7 March 2021
• Program committee member of the International scientific conference New Functional Materials and High Technology
• Vice-president of the Organizing Committee of the Young Researchers' Conference Materials Science and Engineering, since 2013
• Session chair: Synthesis of Biomaterials, 10YRC December 21, 2011 Belgrade; Biomaterials Science, 11YRC, 3 December 2012 Belgrade; Biomaterials I 12YRC December 2013; Biomaterials 13YRC December 2014, COST TD1004 September 2015, Biomaterials II, 15YRC December 2016, 16YRC December 2017, 17YRC December 2018, 18YRC December 2019, 19YRC December 2021.

Committees, councils, etc.

• Board member of the Association of the Scientific Institutes of Serbia for Technological and Biotechnical Sciences since December 2011
• Member of the Council of Employers of the Faculty of Physical Chemistry, University of Belgrade, whose role is to improve the study program and the teaching process
• Management Board member of the Institute of the Technical Sciences of SASA 
• Member of the Collegium of ITS SASA
• Board member of the European COST Action TD1004 (2011-2015)
• Board member of the European COST Action CA15114 (2016-2020)
• Board member of the European COST Action CA116217 (2017-2022)
• Expert evaluator and quality controller of the proposals and projects for the European Commission under H2020 and Horizon Europa.
• Evaluator of the proposals for the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space.

Learned societies

• International Association of Physical Chemists (IAPC)
• Controlled Release Society (CRS)
• American Nano Society (ANS)
• Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)
• Bioencapsulation Research Group (network on microencapsulation)
• Association of Italian and Serbian scientists and researchers (АIS3)
• Association of Physical Chemists of Serbia

Selected publications

• Filipović, N.; Ušjak, D.; Milenković, M. T.; Zheng, K.; Liverani, L.; Boccaccini, A. R.; Stevanović, M. M. Comparative Study of the Antimicrobial Activity of Selenium Nanoparticles With Different Surface Chemistry and Structure. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 2021, 8, 624621. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2020.624621.
• Stevanović, M.; Lukić, M. J.; Stanković, A.; Filipović, N.; Kuzmanović, M.; Janićijević, Ž. Biomedical Inorganic Nanoparticles: Preparation, Properties, and Perspectives. In Materials for Biomedical Engineering; Elsevier, 2019; pp 1–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102814-8.00001-9.
• Stevanović, M. Biomedical Applications of Nanostructured Polymeric Materials. In Nanostructured Polymer Composites for Biomedical Applications; Elsevier, 2019; pp 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816771-7.00001-6.
• Filipović, N.; Veselinović, L.; Ražić, S.; Jeremić, S.; Filipič, M.; Žegura, B.; Tomić, S.; Čolić, M.; Stevanović, M. Poly (ε-Caprolactone) Microspheres for Prolonged Release of Selenium Nanoparticles. Materials Science and Engineering: C 2019, 96, 776–789. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2018.11.073.
• Catanzaro, V.; Digilio, G.; Capuana, F.; Padovan, S.; Cutrin, J. C.; Carniato, F.; Porta, S.; Grange, C.; Filipović, N.; Stevanović, M. Gadolinium-Labelled Cell Scaffolds to Follow-up Cell Transplantation by Magnetic Resonance Imaging. JFB 2019, 10 (3), 28. https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb10030028.
• Stevanović, M. Polymeric Micro- and Nanoparticles for Controlled and Targeted Drug Delivery. In Nanostructures for Drug Delivery; Elsevier, 2017; pp 355–378. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-46143-6.00011-7.
• Stevanović, M.; Filipović, N.; Djurdjević, J.; Lukić, M.; Milenković, M.; Boccaccini, A. 45S5Bioglass®-Based Scaffolds Coated with Selenium Nanoparticles or with Poly(Lactide-Co-Glycolide)/Selenium Particles: Processing, Evaluation and Antibacterial Activity. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 2015, 132, 208–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2015.05.024.
• Stevanović, M.; Bračko, I.; Milenković, M.; Filipović, N.; Nunić, J.; Filipič, M.; Uskoković, D. P. Multifunctional PLGA Particles Containing Poly(l-Glutamic Acid)-Capped Silver Nanoparticles and Ascorbic Acid with Simultaneous Antioxidative and Prolonged Antimicrobial Activity. Acta Biomaterialia 2014, 10 (1), 151–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2013.08.030.
• Stevanović, M.; Kovačević; Petković; Filipič; Uskoković. Effect of Poly-&alpha, &gamma, L-Glutamic Acid as a Capping Agent on Morphology and Oxidative Stress-Dependent Toxicity of Silver Nanoparticles. IJN 2011, 2837. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S24889.
• Stevanović, M.; Maksin, T.; Petković, J.; Filipič, M.; Uskoković, D. An Innovative, Quick and Convenient Labeling Method for the Investigation of Pharmacological Behavior and the Metabolism of Poly(DL-Lactide-Co-Glycolide) Nanospheres. Nanotechnology 2009, 20 (33), 335102. https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/20/33/335102.

Other research outputs

Patents

• Patent Procedure of obtaining the microspheres of the bioresorbable polymer poly-(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) containing ascorbic acid, registered in the Register of the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia on 25 June 2013 under No. 52770
• Patent Procedure of obtaining multifunctional micro and nanocomposite spheres with silver nanoparticles coated by biodegradable polymers, registered in the Register of the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia on 20 October 2014 under No.53485

Awards

• Best PhD Thesis Award, Materials Research Society of Serbia, 2008 (Conference reports - MRS BULLETIN, Volume 34, january 2009)
• Best MSc Thesis Award, Yugoslav Materials Research Society, 2006

Invited lectures

• Polyester micro- and nanospheres for controlled drug delivery, nanomedicine and other biomedical applications: progress and challenges, 8^th Annual International Symposium of Drug Delivery Systems – 2018, Meeting the Challenges with Innovations, 19-21 July  2018, Saint Petersburg, Russia 
• Multifunctional poly (lactide-co-glycolide) particles containing selenium nanoparticles for biomedical applications, Symposium 5 Years of Biomaterials Erlangen, 2nd Erlangen Symposium on Biomaterials: Challenges for the 21st Century; Emerging Fields Initiative: “TOPbiomat Symposium”; 19 November 2014. Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
• Biomacromolecules in controlled release and nanomedicine: Polyester micro and nanospheres as carriers for different medicaments, University of Torino, 20 June 2014, Torino, Italy
• Polyester micro- and nanospheres as carriers for different medicaments, 29 October 2012, King’s College, London, United Kingdom
• Biomacromolecules in controlled release and nanomedicine, invited lecture at the Center for Biomaterials, Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology-KIST, 4 June 2012. Seoul, Korea
• Biomacromolecules in controlled release and nanomedicine: Poly (lactide-co-glycolide) micro and nanospheres, National Institute of Biology (NIB), 27 January 2012, Ljubljana, Slovenia