DRAGAN M. DJURIC, MD, PhD, FIACS
President, Serbian Association for Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Research (SAATVBR),
President, Assembly of the Serbian Physiological Society,
Professor and Chair, PhD Program in Physiological Sciences,
Institute of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Republic of Serbia
Dragan M. Djuric (born in 1961 in the city of Krusevac, central part of Serbia), received his MD degree in 1987, MS degree in 1991 and PhD degree in 1993 from the Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade. Academic positions: Research Assistant (1989-1991), Assistant (1991-1994), Assistant Professor (1994-1999), Associate Professor (1999-2008), Full Professor of Medical Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade (2008-present). Postdoctoral training obtained in Germany (Max Planck Institute for Physiological and Clinical Research – Kerckhoff Heart Centre, Bad Nauheim, 1998, 2001-2002), and USA (College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, Mobile, 2000). From 1997-2000 he was Head at the Centre for Atherosclerosis and Vascular Biology in the Dedinje Cardiovascular Institute, Belgrade. In period 2006-2009 he was a Director, than in period 2009-2012 he was a Chair of the Board of Medical Physiology “Richard Burian” at the Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade. He initiated and co-founded PhD program in physiological sciences (2009), and from that time he is a Chairman of that program at the Belgrade University Faculty of Medicine. He initiated and co-founded the establishment of the Yugoslav Atherosclerosis Society in 1998, then he was a first Secretary General (1998-2002). He was a President of the Executive Committee and Assembly of the Serbian Physiological Society (2006-2013), President of the Program and Nominating committee of the Serbian Physiological Society (2013-2017), and again he was elected as a President of the Assembly of the Serbian Physiological Society (2018-2021). Dr. Djuric also had a lot of international responsibilities: 2000-present, Council Member, International Atherosclerosis Society; 2003-2013 Council Member, Federation of European Physiological Societies (FEPS); 2005-2009 Council Member, International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS); 2006-2014 Council Member, International Society for Pathophysiology; 2011-present, Member, Steering Committee, Global Network for Global Fight Against Cardiovascular Diseases, International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences); 2015-Council Member, European Section, International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences-IACS.
He organized/co-organized a lot of scientific meetings and activities: the first Yugoslav congress on atherosclerosis (Belgrade, 2001), satellite symposium of XIV International Symposium on Atherosclerosis (IAS Belgrade, 2006), international conference on nutrition and cardiovascular health (Novi Sad, 2007), and 2nd European section meeting of the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences (Belgrade, 2015). He also organized/co-organized 4 congresses of physiological sciences (2005, 2009, 2014, 2018, respectively) as well as 7 conferences and meetings of physiological sciences with international participation in Serbia including joint Serbian-Slovak and Serbian-Hungarian bilateral physiological meetings (2003, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, respectively). He was also organizer of the jubilee symposium on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Institute of Medical Physiology “Richard Burian“at Belgrade University Faculty of Medicine (2011). He organized the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the installation of a memorial plaque in the lobby of Institute of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade, in honour and memory to Scottish doctor Elsie Maud Inglis, which was a heroin in the First World War and leader of the famous military unit entitled “Scottish Women’s Hospitals”) (2009).
He serves as a member of the International Lipid Expert Panel (ILEP, 2015-present) and Lipid and Blood Pressure Meta–Analysis Collaboration (LBPMC) Group (2017-present). He also served as a member of Homocysteine Expert Panel (Germany), and was a member of the scientific/organizing committee at the global international conference entitled “Advances and Controversies in B-Vitamins and Choline” (Leipzig, Germany, 2012). Two times he served as a co-chair of the sessions at congresses of of the Federation of European Physiological Societies (FEPS) (Bratislava 2007, Budapest 2014); at FEPS congresses (Bratislava 2007, Budapest 2014) he organized thematic symposia on endothelial dysfunction, risk factors, cardiovascular protection and nutrition; he also co-organized the symposium on nutrition and cardiovascular health (Budapest 2014). He got a few international grants (Kerckhoff Klinik GmbH, Bad Nauheim, Germany; Solvay Pharma, Hannover, Germany; Pfizer GmbH, Representative Office, Belgrade/Serbia). He has been principal investigator in national-funded grants in Serbia (since 2005), and now he participates as a member of the managing committee in COST action [CA16225 RS] “Realising the therapeutic potential of novel cardioprotective therapies (EUCARDIOPROTECTION)”. He also participated as a member of the managing committee in COST action [BM1005 Biomedicine and Molecular Biosciences] “Gasotransmitters: from basic science to therapeutic applications (MC, ENOG: European Network on Gasotransmitters, 2011), COST action CM1203 Chemistry and Molecular Sciences and Technologies (CMST) “Polyoxometalate chemistry for molecular nanoscience (PoCheMoN, 2012), and has been invited to participate in ScreenPro FH (Screening Project for Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, 2015).
He was a co-editor of the translation to Serbian language of the whole edition of the Textbook of Medical Physiology by Guyton AC and Hall JE in 2008 (Saunders 11th ed.), co-editor of the chapter translation of the Ganong’s Review of Medical Physiology by Barrett KE, Barman SM, Boitano S, Brooks HL in 2015 (McGraw-Hill/Lange Basic Science 24 ed.) as well as editor/co-editor of 4 textbooks and demonstration manual in the field of medical physiology in Serbian language.
Dr. Djuric published more than 717 different publication units in English, German, Russian and Serbian languages, with 117 full-length papers in peer-reviewed journals indexed in ISI/JCR list plus 15 papers indexed only in PubMed as well as 30 chapters in books/monographs; he wrote or edited 4 monographs about endothelium, atherosclerosis and nutrition (in Serbian language), and edited/co-edited 12 books of abstracts from scientific meetings (all in English language). He was cited more than 1000 times, and was invited for presenting the lectures 71 times in Serbia as well as 41 times abroad at different foreign institutions and international meetings. He was reviewer many times in international and domestic scientific journals, and served on editorial boards of following journals: Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Acta Physiologica Hungarica, Experimental and Clinical Cardiology, Pathophysiology, Mediterranean Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, Medical Science Monitor Basic Research, Curent Research: Cardiology, Yugoslavica Physiologica et Pharmacologica Acta, Serbian Journal for Experimental and Clinical Research, Archives of Medical Sciences – Atherosclerosis Diseases; furthermore, he was a member of editorial board of CV Network (global bulletin of the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences) (2007-2015). He was a guest editor in a few special issues of certain journals from ISI/JCR list: Acta Physiologica Hungarica (2006); Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology (2008, 2016); General Physiology and Biophysics (2009); Medicinal Chemistry (2012); Current Medicinal Chemistry (2018). He was abstract grader at large international meetings, reviewer on different grant’s proposals (Serbia, Poland, Hungary), foreign member of dissertation committee (Slovakia), proposer for the position of full professorship in the field of physiology and pathophysiology (Romania), and proposer for prestigious fellowships in Germany, Sweden, Canada and USA. His research interests include studies on the effects and mechanisms of different principles in cardiovascular system, ie. homocysteine and its thiolactone metabolites, other sulphur-containing acids (methionine, cysteine, N-acetyl-L-cysteine), gasotransmitters (NO, H2S, CO), oxidative stress, folic acid, vitamin B6, L-arginine, vitamin C, histamine, cardiovascular biomarkers, cardiac and neural NMDA receptors, cardiac and neural hyperexcitability, vibroacoustic microvibrations, coronary heart disease, cardiac failure, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, peripheral vascular disease, cardiovascular prevention, nutraceuticals and exercise.
Professor Dragan M. Djuric was elected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences (2011). He has been awarded with Andras Varro Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Sciences (2018), Serbian Physiological Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Physiological Sciences (2016), Lifetime Achievement Award in Cardiovascular Science, Medicine and Surgery by the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences (2015), Samuel Racz Medal and Honorary Member for the Contribution in Physiology from the Hungarian Physiological Society (2010), Honorary Member of the Bulgarian Society for Cell Biology (2009), Honorary Member of the Romanian Society for Laboratory Medicine (2008), Medal of the Yugoslav Society of Cardiology (2002), and Belgrade City October Award (1987).