Ana Djordjevic is Principal Research Fellow and Head of the Department of Biochemistry at the Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”. From 2006 to 2010, she worked at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences “Vinča”, where she carried out the experimental part of her doctoral thesis. She received her PhD in 2010 from the Faculty of Biology at the University of Belgrade, where she had previously completed her undergraduate studies in molecular biology and physiology in 2005.

At the beginning of her research career, Ana focused on stress biology, and in the last 10 years her research focus is still in the field of molecular endocrinology, but concentrating on diet-induced metabolic disorders, especially type 2 diabetes and obesity. Ana is particularly interested in the role of the gut microbiota in the development and treatment of obesity and has focused her recent research on the manipulation of the microbiota with new generation probiotics and bioactive plant extracts, with the aim of finding applicable solutions for the treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders in the near future.

She has participated in several national and international projects, most recently in the Twinning project “Strengthening Translational Research for Improved Metabolic Health” (STRIMHealth) (#101159400, 2024-2027). From 2019 to 2020, Ana was the PI of the national project “Role of steroid hormones in neuroendocrine adaptation to stress and pathophysiology of Metabolic Syndrome – molecular mechanisms and clinical implications” (grant III41009). Ana is currently PI of a proof-of-concept project “Probiotic bacteria for reducing liver steatosis” funded by the World Bank-financed project “Serbia Accelerating Innovation and Growth Entrepreneurship” (SAIGE).

In 2016, Ana received the “Start Up for Science Grant” from the Centre for Leadership Development. Since 2011, she has been a lecturer in undergraduate and doctoral studies at the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade. She is the author of a university textbook and two biology textbooks for elementary school. She was one of the founders of the Serbian Society for Molecular Biology (MolBioS). She is currently Vice President of MolBioS, and from 2015 to 2023 she was Chair of the Steering Committee. From 2022, Ana is Vice President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led a team of researchers working on the detection of SARS-CoV2 at the National Laboratory for Molecular Detection of Infectious Agents “Fire Eye” in Belgrade. In her spare time, Ana illustrates scientific books.