Projects

Project leader: Dr. Ivana Drvenica

Project collaborators: Dr. Vesna Ilić, Dr. Drenka Trivanović, Dr. Biljana Ristić, Dr. Marijana Kovačić

Duration of the project: 1.10.2025-31.5.2026.

Leading institution: Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade

Description of the project:

Iron deficiency remains the most prevalent nutritional disorder worldwide, highlighting the need for innovative, effective, and sustainable iron supplementation strategies. This project aimed to transform the meat-industry byproduct, slaughterhouse blood, into a high-value, sustainable, and consumer-friendly ingredient by revalorizing hemoglobin into an innovative, heme-iron-based formulation for dietary supplements and functional foods. The developed technology delivers a long-term stable, bioavailable heme-iron protein complex with superior nutritional value and enhanced taste and color, improving consumer appeal and facilitating its incorporation into a wide range of food matrices.

The technology is based on a dual natural origin (bovine and porcine), globally adaptable to dietary and cultural preferences, enabling broader market applicability. Furthermore, it turns by-products into sustainable bioactive ingredients, supporting circular bioeconomy principles and reducing waste from the meat industry.

During the project, the technology was successfully advanced from TRL 4 to TRL 6, including formulation optimization, safety and functionality validation, consumer acceptance studies, market assessment, and commercialization planning. The project established a strong foundation for intellectual property protection, industrial partnerships, and market entry, demonstrating the potential to bridge the gap between scientific research and industry while delivering innovative solutions for improved nutrition and sustainable resource utilization.

Project leader: Dr. Ivana Drvenica

Project collaborators: Dr. Vesna Ilić, Dr. Steva Lević

Duration of the project: 1.6.2024-31.5.2025.

Leading institution: Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade

Collaborating institution: Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade

Description of the project:

Slaughterhouse blood is generated in a very large volume all around the world. Within the EU meat industry, slaughterhouse blood is classified as a third-category animal by-product that has been deemed suitable for human consumption but is not intended for consumption due to either being not typically eaten or commercially sold. Unfortunately, in Western Balkan countries, it’s commonly treated as waste and completely disregarded, leading to serious environmental problems if not properly managed, due to its high pollutant capacity. On the other hand, our research demonstrated that slaughterhouse blood can be a sustainable source of biomolecules and biomaterials with significant nutritional/functional value if adequately managed.

We created technology to obtain completely preserved high-purity hemoglobin from slaughterhouse blood, a valuable source of heme- iron, the most bioavailable form of iron. Knowing that anemia due to iron deficiency is the most prominent nutritional deficiency, we are developing novel long-term stable solid-state complexes of low-cost sugar and recovered biologically active hemoglobin from bovine and porcine slaughterhouse blood, as potential dietary supplements. Our goal was to achieve the effectiveness of the current industry standard protein stabilizer, by using cost-effective sugar in tandem with the optimized process parameters of two drying methods of recovered hemoglobin. From the selected dried hemoglobins with satisfactory cost-benefit and techno-functional features, two products as a source of heme iron will be developed and tested for their sensory and technological characteristics. Thanks to the scalable and transferable technologies of the M2BoostHEM project, the production of such added-value food supplements could be performed in any geographical area in the world. Thus, the M2BoostHEM project has the potential to enhance the sustainability of the food industry and minimize its environmental footprint.

Project leader: Dr. Aleksandar Krmpot

Project collaborators: Dr. Ivana Drvenica, Dr. Drenka Trivanović, Dr. Mihajlo Radmilović, Dr. Stanko Nikolić, Dr. Danica Pavlović

Duration of the project: 1.9.2020–31.8.2022.

Leading institution: Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade

Collaborating institution: Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade

Description of the project:

In this project, we are aiming to utilize state-of-the art optical microscopic techniques expanding their applicability for erythrocytes and erythrocyte derivatives imaging as a potential diagnostic method for modern age disorders, such as cancer, diabetes and other inflammatory/autoimmune diseases. Our research will be mostly based on two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy (TPEF) and recently demonstrated intrinsic feature of hemoglobin to become a fluorescent molecular target upon two-photon excitation by ultra-short laser pulses. We will unite our “know-how” on TPEF with third harmonic generation (THG) imaging of erythrocytes and complement it with quantitative information obtained by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). The latter two will be developed within this project. Using erythrocytes as sensitive markers, we will demonstrate how combining the data acquired by custom–made techniques and established protocols for in vitro and ex vivo hemoglobin based imaging can contribute to a better understanding of the underlying biological basis of specific disorders. This is the first step in development of novel methods for diagnosis and disease risk stratification. We will also boost our initiated research on TPEF microscopy as an effective tool for label- and fixation -free imaging of erythrocytes and their membranes at single cell level. The research revealed the relation between spatial distribution of hemoglobin within erythrocytes and their morphology implying that this relation is an indicator of erythrocytes functional status.

Six researchers from two leading national institutions and from various, complementary, fields (physics, biology, biophotonics, pharmacy) will carry out the activities divided into 7 tasks and deliver 13 items, amongst two new techniques will be developed: THG and FCS for the benefit to the broad international and Serbian scientific community. HEMMAGINERO is supported by DESY, Germany and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden formally and by open access to the equipment. The project will be realized in 2 years and by cca 200,000EUR employing and upgrading the most valuable equipment in Serbian scientific institutions and respecting all the safety and ethical issues.

Project leader: Dr. Dušan Božanić

Project collaborators: Dr. Tijana Mišeljić, Dr. Jelena Pajović, Dr. Biljana Ristić, Anamarija Abu el Rub, Dr. Vladimir Đoković

Project number: 275

Duration of the project: 2025-2026.

Leading institution: Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, University of Belgrade

Collaborating institutions: Faculty of Physics, University of Belgrade, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, The Danish National Research Foundation and Villum Foundation’s Center for Intelligent Drug Delivery and Sensing Using Microcontainers and Nanomechanics (IDUN), Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

Description of the project:

The NIMPHA project is dedicated to developing of a ballistic method for transporting medications through the membranes of superficial cells, bypassing the standard endocytosis process. The methodology is based on the use of nanomotors that are activated and propelled by light in the near-infrared region of the spectrum, allowing precise control of the nanomotors’ available energy range through light intensity regulation. The expected results of the NIMPHA project will contribute to the development of advanced technologies for delivering drugs or genetic material through cell membranes with minimal disruption to cellular structure, thereby opening new possibilities for improving the treatment of skin cancers.

Project leader: Dr. Biljana Ristić

Project collaborators: Dr. Ivana Drvenica, Dr. Marijana Kovačić, Dr. Irina Maslovarić, Dr. Tamara Đukić, Dr. Verica Paunović, Dr. Attila Bóta, Dr. Zoltán Varga, Dr. Judit Mihály

Project number: 001908878 2025 13440 003 000 000 001 02 010

Duration of the project: 2025-2027.

Leading institution: Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade

Collaborating institutions: Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Description of the project:

The project is focused on the development and optimization of the production of nanoerythrosomes based on human erythrocyte membranes, with the aim of obtaining safe and efficient carriers for targeted drug delivery. Its significance lies in the development of innovative biomimetic nanoplatforms which, owing to the preserved structural and functional properties of the erythrocyte membrane, enable prolonged circulation of therapeutics, evasion of immune recognition, and the potential to overcome the blood–brain barrier. The expected outcomes of the project will contribute to the development of nanoerythrosomes with enhanced functional and biological properties, thereby providing a significant contribution to the field of modern nanomedicine and establishing a foundation for the application of novel bioinspired drug delivery platforms. The project is implemented through bilateral collaboration between research teams from Serbia and Hungary, integrating complementary expertise, advanced methodologies, and state-of-the-art analytical infrastructure. This collaborative framework facilitates efficient knowledge exchange and supports the development of innovative solutions in the field of nanomedicine.

Project leader: Dr. Aleksandar Krmpot

Project collaborators: Dr. Ivana Drvenica

Duration of the project: 2020-2021.

Leading institution: Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade

Description of the project:

Project leader: Dr. Aleksandar Krmpot

Project collaborators: Dr. Ivana Drvenica

Duration of the project: 2020-2021.

Leading institution: Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade

Description of the project:

Project leader: Dr. Ivana Drvenica, Dr. Tea Bilušić

Project collaborators:

Project number: 451-03-40/2016-09/17

Duration of the project: 2016-2017.

Leading institution:

Description of the project: