The Center for Translational Neuroscience (CTN) was established at the Department of General Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry "Ivan Đaja" of the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade in 2024. The goals of the CTN are scientific, professional and educational activities in the field of translational research in neurobiology and biomedicine, which require a greater degree of independence and functional connection with other participants in this process.
According to estimates by the World Health Organization, chronic neurodegenerative diseases will become the second leading cause of death by 2040 due to the lack of effective therapies and the impossibility of a complete cure. In order to overcome the failure of current therapeutic options, new therapeutic approaches are constantly being studied and developed, including pharmacological and targeted molecular therapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy and electromagnetic brain stimulation. Due to inappropriate physicochemical properties (size, hydrophilicity, electrical charge), many pharmacotherapeutics do not cross the blood-brain barrier, as a result of which a large number of them that have shown high potential in the preclinical research phase do not progress to the clinical phase. In addition to new effective therapeutics, there is a constant need for reliable molecular markers that would enable timely detection and diagnosis of the disease, as well as the need for carriers for targeted drug delivery.
Members of the CTN team have developed cooperation with domestic and foreign laboratories in terms of assessing the effects and bioavailability of newly synthesized compounds. The result of these collaborations are two doctoral dissertations and about thirty scientific papers published in renowned scientific journals in the last five years. Cooperation with clinical institutions further contributes to the translation of basic research into clinical practice, enabling the testing of new therapeutic strategies and the improvement of diagnostic methods.
The CTN team stands out for its innovative approach to research, continuous training of team members, and the introduction of modern methods and experimental approaches in neuroscience. In addition, the CTN is actively conducting research on several models of neurodegenerative diseases, in search of a better understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms and potential therapeutic approaches.
In the last five years, CTN has organized twelve methodological workshops aimed at students, doctoral candidates and researchers, providing them with the opportunity to gain practical knowledge of modern techniques.
