Ana Stepanović

Ana Stepanović holds a master’s degree in molecular biology, from Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade. She was awarded for the best master thesis in molecular biology by the Foundation "Goran Ljubijankić." Currently, she is a PhD student at the Faculty of Biology, specializing in physiology - Translational research in neurobiology and biomedicine. She started her doctoral studies in 2020. Her PhD thesis focuses on the development of new hybrid compounds of sclareol and doxorubicin and testing their anticancer properties under the mentorship of Dr. Milica Pešić. Ana Stepanović is inventor on an approved patent "Hybrid compounds of sclareol and doxorubicin, their synthesis and application“, under number RS 66375 B1, and for which an international PCT application has been filed, No: PCT/RS2023/000016. The first paper from Ana Stepanović’s thesis, named „Novel hybrid compounds of sclareol and doxorubicin as potential anticancer nanotherapy for glioblastoma“, was awarded the prize of the "Academician Radoslav K. Andjus" Foundation for a scientific publication by a young researcher in the field of physiology and/or biophysics for the year 2023/24. This paper was also awarded for the best scientific publication in the field of cancer research, awarded by the Serbian Society of Cancer Researchers, in the category of junior member of SDIR for 2025. Additionally, Ana is a team member on a project funded by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, "PhotoSCLART" project: development of nature-inspired photoresponsive anticancer agents - sclareol and artemisinin derivatives in cancer multidrug-resistance models: a foundation for the theranostic approach". She also was a team member on "TargetedResponse" project: Functional diagnostics in non-small cell lung carcinoma—a new concept for the improvement of personalized therapy in Serbian patients, a member of the IBISS project "Proof of Concept" "Innovative hybrid compounds of sclareol and doxorubicin as new antitumor strategy in glioblastoma therapy" (SCLarDOXInn) and team member of Serbian Academy of Sciences (SANU) project entitled "Biomedical potential of newly isolated diterpenes of milk thistle latex in Serbia". She was a member of the Organizing Committee in the sixth congress of SDIR, "From Collaboration to Innovation in Cancer Research" in 2023, and COST Action CA17104, "New diagnostic and therapeutic tools against multidrug-resistant tumors" in 2020. Ana is a member of the Serbian Society of Cancer Researchers, the European Association of Cancer Research, the Society for Neuroscience of Serbia, and the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies.