Dr. Sanja Vignjević Petrinović, Coordinator of the Group for Neuroendocrinology at the Institute for Medical Research, took part in the Forum of the Institute of Mental Health, held on April 17 at the Yugoslav Film Archive Museum, where she delivered a lecture titled “Chronic Stress and Malignancy: Inflammation as the Connecting Link” within the Stress and Physical Health segment.
In her presentation, Dr. Vignjević Petrinović highlighted that chronic stress is not merely an accompanying factor in disease, but a biologically active process that, through prolonged dysregulation of neuroendocrine and immune responses, can lead to persistent inflammation, alongside changes in the cellular environment and contribution to the development and progression of malignancies.
She also emphasized the importance of the biopsychosocial model of stress, which links molecular mechanisms of inflammation with psychological and environmental determinants of health. This framework enables a more comprehensive understanding of how stress impacts health and points to the need for integrative and interdisciplinary research approaches in biomedicine.
