Dr. Daniel Mark Lyons
was awarded his PhD degree from the National University of Ireland on the creation of nanoscale lanthanide oxides. Following work in Technion, Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa), in Infineon Technologies AG (Villach, Austria) and a postdoctoral fellowship on the development of new nanoscale materials at University College Cork he took up a research post in the Ruđer Bošković Institute. His research presently focuses on the fate of nanoparticles among various trophic levels in the marine environment, toxicity of nanomaterials and the development of nanoparticle-based biosensors for marine toxins.
email: lyons@irb.hr
Dr. Dijana Pavičić-Hamer
is a graduate of biology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Zagreb, Croatia. She took up a research post in the Center for Marine Research of the Ruđer Bošković Institute, working extensively in γ-spectrometry analysis of radionuclides in the marine environment, and enzyme activities as a key component of the ecophysiology of marine organisms. Her recent scientific activity focuses on the transfer and effects of nanoparticles and microplastics on marine biota ranging from unicellular algae to molluscs and crabs, through toxicity testing at whole organism, cellular and sub-cellular levels.
email:dpavicic@irb.hr
Dr. Bojan Hamer
After graduation from the University of Zagreb with degrees in sanitary engineering and biology he completed his masters at the Ruđer Bošković Institute followed by a doctoral thesis on stress protein HSP70 in mussels. His main areas of interest and expertise encompass research on pollution, genotoxicity, biomarkers and biotests, ecological risk assessment, proteomics and applied genetics for species identification and population analyses. He currently works on microplastic impact assessment and the use of living organisms as a basis for bioremediation of microplastic pollution. He also works on developing laboratory and field sensors and devices for monitoring the behavior of marine organisms.
email: bhamer@irb.hr
Dr. Lorena Perić is a biologist working as a researcher at the Division for Marine and Environmental Research of the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb, Croatia. During her career, she has mainly focused on the biochemical biomarkers’ responses in marine invertebrates, in particular bivalves, to various chemicals and natural stressors. She participated in several field monitoring campaigns for the assessment of marine water quality. She has also been working in the area of introduction and spreading of alien marine bivalves in the eastern Adriatic. She has recently joined the IRB team working in the field of aquaculture and pathology of aquatic organisms.
email: lorena.perić@irb.hr
Dr. Petra Burić
is currently employed at the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Department of Natural and Health Sciences as a postdoctoral researcher. She had worked at the Center for Marine Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute from 2011 – 2018, earning a doctoral degree in oceanography in 2018. Her current interests are focused towards determining toxicity end-points in marine invertebrates, specifically sea urchins and mussels after treatment with different anthropogenic pollutants. Her research includes diverse areas encompassing embryonal development in marine organisms, analysis of cytogenetic anomalies, determination of oxidative stress, etc. Her further interests include research on the fate of anthropogenic pollutants such as nanoparticles and pesticides in the marine environment.
email: petra.buric@unipu.hr
Dr. Ines Kovačić
is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Croatia. She received her masters degree in Ecology and a Ph.D. in oceanology from the University of Zagreb. Her fields of interest are the ecophysiology of marine organisms and the effects of pollutants on these organisms. She has extensive experience in analyses of marine invertebrate responses to environmental conditions as well as to exposure to pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals, nanoparticles and microplastics. Currently she is involved in sea urchin and mussel toxicological studies.
email: ikovacic@unipu.hr
Dr. Biljana Balen
is a graduate of the Faculty of Science of the University of Zagreb with extensive experience in analyses of plant cell response related to differentiation processes as well as to exposure to stressful environmental conditions (salinity, osmotic stress, heavy metals) at the level of biologically important macromolecules with the special emphasis on changes in protein expression. Her current research aims to reveal and explain the toxicity of a set of diverse nanoparticles (NPs) to terrestrial and aquatic plants in order to contribute to the environmental hazard assessment of NPs as well as to the basic knowledge about the mechanisms of their toxicity.
email:bbalen@biol.pmf.hr
Dr. Petra Peharec-Štefanić
is an Assistant Professor at the Division of Molecular Biology of the Department of Biology at the University of Zagreb. She holds a masters degree in molecular biology and a PhD in cell and molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of Zagreb. Her postdoctoral work was carried out at both the University of Zagreb and at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel in the areas of plant molecular biology and biochemistry. She is highly experienced in electron microscopy, analyses of plant cell response related to differentiation processes and to exposure to environmental stressors at the ultrastructural and protein level. Currently she is involved in studies concerning nanoparticles’ role in inducing ultrastructural and proteome changes in terrestrial and aquatic plants.
email:ppeharec@biol.pmf.hr
Dr. Petra Cvjetko
is a senior researcher at the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. She holds a PhD in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology. Her main research interest involves the mechanism of heavy metal-induced stress in model plant organisms. Currently she is involved in plant toxicological studies concerning silver nanoparticles and their role in inducing oxidative stress in tobacco plants, fresh and marine water algae. She has strong experience in analyses of DNA damage in plant cells and mechanisms of oxidative damage at the sub-cellular level.
email: petra.cvjetko@biol.pmf.hr
Dr. Lara Jurković
is a graduate of the Department of Chemistry of the University of Zagreb, earning a doctoral degree in physical chemistry. She has extensive experience in modeling of the crystallisation processes of biominerals and their physical characterisation. Her current research focuses on the synthesis of micro- and nanoparticles, determining the role of abiotic environmental factors on the fate of such particles and on how the physico-chemical characteristics of particles govern their interation with biomolecules at the cellular and sub-cellular levels in biomineralisation processes.
email: lara.jurkovic@irb.hr
Ivana Hazdovac
is a graduate of the Department of Biology of the University of Zagreb, holding a masters degree in the field of environmental science. She is currently working towards her PhD in the interdisciplinary doctoral studies programme of Oceanology. Her work is currently focused towards understanding the impact of abiotic parameters on the persistence of particles in the marine environment and how environmental processes modify such particles and consequently modulate their interaction and impact on living organisms.
email: ivana.hazdovac@irb.hr