The Physiological Institute (the predecessor of today's Institute) was founded in 1910, thanks to the work of academician Prof. Ivan Đaja (1884-1957). Thanks to the scientific discoveries in the field of thermoregulation and bioenergetics, which made an invaluable contribution to Serbia's reputation in the world, the Department of Physiology and the Physiological Institute under the leadership of Prof. Ivan Đaja became recognizable in the world scientific community as the "Belgrade School of Physiology". During World War II, a major fire destroyed all the equipment, as well as the Institute's rich library, which temporarily interrupted the successful scientific work of this institution. After Prof. Ivan Đaja retired in 1955, Academician Prof. Radoslav Anđus (1926-2003), who is considered the founder of modern physiology in Serbia. The scientific work of Prof. Radoslav Anđus marked the development of physiological science in Serbia in the second half of the 20th century, and among his most significant discoveries were those obtained through the study of deep and extreme hypothermia.

The Physiological Institute changed its name to the Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry in 1972. The Department of Physiology was then divided into three new departments: the Department of General Physiology and Biophysics, the Department of Comparative Physiology and Ecophysiology, and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The first head of the newly established Department of Comparative Physiology and Ecophysiology was Academician Prof. Vojislav Petrović. Prof. Petrović was one of the founders of Ecophysiological Endocrinology, and he made a special scientific contribution in the field of antioxidant protection.

In the same year (1972), a new study group, Molecular Biology and Physiology, was founded, unique in the then Yugoslavia. At the same time, the studies of molecular biology and physiology were among the first to be established in Europe, immediately after those in England and France. A key contribution to the establishment of the study group, Molecular Biology and Physiology, was made by academician Prof. Dušan Kanazir (1921-2009). Prof. Kanazir was also the first head of the newly established Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Prof. Kanazir was one of the founders of molecular biology in the then Yugoslavia, as the founder of the “Vinča Group”, which is considered a pioneer in research in the field of molecular mechanisms of gene expression and genetic engineering. Academician Prof. Dušan Kanazir was also the long-time president of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Since 2018, the Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry has been named after its founder – the Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry “Ivan Đaja”. At the initiative of the Institute and the Faculty of Biology, a memorial plaque was erected in 2010 to Prof. Ivan Đaja on the street of the same name in Vračar, on the opening day of the symposium in honor of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Belgrade School of Physiology. On the same day, his bust was unveiled at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, which is now in the Institute’s library.

The teachers of our Institute are also responsible for the establishment of physiological and molecular biology laboratories in all scientific institutes, both in Belgrade and throughout Serbia. Many prominent scientists have graduated from the Institute during its 113-year existence. Some of them have continued their scientific careers in prestigious laboratories around the world.

From 1979 to the present, the Institute has been headed by: Prof. Ana Savić (1979-1981), Prof. Mira Pašić (1981-1987), Prof. Vojislav Petrović (1987-1989), Prof. Vukosava Davidović (1989-2002), Prof. Pavle Anđus (2002-2006), Prof. Nadežda Nedeljković (2006-2009), Prof. Gordana Cvijić (2009- 2012), Prof. Goran Brajušković (2012-2018), Prof. Jelena Đorđević (2018-2021) and Prof. Danijela Laketa (2021-)

Today, within the Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry "Ivan Đaja", three centers operate: the Center for Human Molecular Genetics, the Center for Forensic and Applied Molecular Genetics, and the Center for Laser Microscopy. The Center for Human Molecular Genetics (previously the Center for Application and Development of RSE) was founded in 1997 by Prof. Stanka Romac, as the first laboratory for human identification based on DNA molecule analysis in Serbia. In 2017, this center also gave rise to the Center for Forensic and Applied Molecular Genetics, whose professional work is carried out in the field of forensic biology, while the professional work of the Center for Human and Molecular Biology continued to be carried out in the field of human identification and molecular diagnostics of hereditary neuromuscular diseases in humans. The Center for Laser Microscopy was founded in 2004 with the help of the Institute's first major European project, headed by Prof. Pavle Anđus, who has been managing the Center since its founding.

In the last decade, the Institute's teachers and associates have actively participated in a large number of international and national projects. The constant increase in the number of research groups and the admission of young researchers has also led to the formation of new laboratories within the Institute: the microbial biotechnology laboratory, the patch clamp laboratory, the neurobiology laboratory, as well as a joint laboratory used by teachers and associates of all three departments, while the work of the quantitative biology research group is carried out using modern technology in the Institute's premises. During the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020-21 period, numerous Institute associates made a significant contribution to the molecular diagnostics of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Since 2012, the Institute has been awarding an annual prize for the best doctoral dissertation and master's thesis in the field of physiology "Ivan Đaja".