Academic Degree/Research Rank:
1988 – 1993. B.Sc. Chemistry (GPA: 9.87 on a 10.0 scale), Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade
1999 – 2002. Ph.D. Chemistry (magna cum laude), Freie Universität (Free University) Berlin, Department of Chemistry, Biology and Pharmacy, Germany; dissertation: Modeling of conformation and redox potentials of hemes and other cofactors in proteins
2007. Assistant Research Professor – Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, USA
2015. Associate Research Professor – Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Serbia
2025. Full Research Professor (Principal Research Fellow) – Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Serbia


Professional Experience:
1994 – 1998. Industrial experience, researcher in the Institute for R&D (Lab: Organic synthesis) – Pharmaceutical company Zdravlje–Actavis, Leskovac, Serbia
1999 – 2002. Doctoral studies at the Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
2002. Visiting researcher at FU Berlin, Germany
2003 – 2006. Postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, USA
2007 – 2010. Research Assistant Specialist at the University of California, Davis, USA
2011 – 2012. Study visit at the City College of New York, USA
2018. Visiting Professor at UP Diliman, Manila, Philippines (teaching graduate-level course: Computational methods in biochemistry)
2013 – Present. ICTM – Department of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Serbia


Awards and Honors:
1988 – 1992. Government's Undergraduate Scholarship of the Republic of Serbia for highly gifted students
1989 – 1993. Scholarship of ICN–Galenika, a pharmaceutical company
1994. Award of the Serbian Chemical Society for the best-graduated student in 1992/93 at the Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade
1998 – 2001. Graduate Scholarship, Humboldt University Berlin and German Research Foundation (DFG)
2001 – 2002. Research Fellowship, Department of Biochemistry - Charité Berlin and DFG (visiting researcher)
2017. Invited through the WELS (World Expert Lecture Series) program of the University of the Philippines to deliver special lectures to a dozen universities nationwide on his research on complex biochemical systems and computational simulations of biomolecules


Professional Achievements:
● Introduced a new computational method in the research field of theoretical/computational biochemistry and biophysics of biopolymers (enzymes, proteins, DNA, and polysaccharides) by combining quantum-mechanical and electrostatic calculations
● Proposed mechanism of proton pumping of cytochrome c oxidase – Coulomb pump model with kinetic gating, including gating through conformational states of Glu242 side-chain
● Patented new methods of synthesis and characterization of bioactive molecules for treating cardiovascular diseases and scale-up for pharmaceutical industrial production


Language Skills: English, German, Russian


Memberships:
2006 – Present: ACS Member (American Chemical Society)
2013 – Present: SCS Member (Serbian Chemical Society)
2025 – Present: BSS Member (Biophysical Society of Serbia)

Academic Services:
2007 – 2011: Reviewer, Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics (Elsevier)
2013 – 2019: Reviewer, journals published by Dove Medical Press
2014 – 2018: Reviewer, Nano Letters (ACS)
2018 – 2022: Reviewer, Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences (Springer)
2012 – Present: Reviewer, Journal of Physical Chemistry (ACS)
2013 – Present: Reviewer, Journal of Serbian Chemical Society (SCS)
2020 – Present: Reviewer, Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics (Taylor & Francis)
2021 – Present: Editor/Reviewer, Frontiers in Chemistry (Frontiers Media)
2023 – Present: Reviewer, Essays in Biochemistry (Portland Press)
2024 – Present: Reviewer, Biochemical Society Transactions (Portland Press)
2024: Associate Editor, Frontiers in Chemistry (Research Topic: Exploration of the Role of Heme Proteins in Biology with Experimental and Computational Methods)


Major Projects:
International:
2023 – 2027. COST Action CA22143: "European Materials Informatics Network" (EuMINe), Brussels – European Union, Chair of the Action: Prof. Francesco Mercuri (Italy). [MC member from Serbia]
2022 – 2026. COST Action CA21101: "Confined Molecular Systems: from a new generation of materials to the stars" (COSY), Brussels – European Union, Chair of the Action: Prof. María Pilar de Lara-Castells (Spain).
2018 – 2022. COST Action CA17120: "Chemobrionics," Brussels – European Union, Chair of the Action: Prof. Julyan Cartwright (Spain).
2010 – 2011. "Importance of buried charges in proteins," National Science Foundation (NSF grant project, No. MCB 1022208). Project Leader: Prof. Marilyn Gunner (CUNY, USA).
2006 – 2010. "Theoretical and computational studies of biological electron transfer," National Institute of Health (NIH grant project, No. GM 054052). Project Leader: Prof. Alexei Stuchebrukhov (UC Davis, USA).
2002 – 2006. "Electron tunneling in proteins," National Science Foundation (NSF grant project, No. PHY 0646273). Project Leader: Prof. Alexei Stuchebrukhov (UC Davis, USA).
2001 – 2002. "Protein-Kofaktor Wechselwirkungen in biologischen Prozessen," Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft (DFG, SFB 498). Project Leader: Prof. Dietmar Stehlik (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany).
1998 – 2001. "Dynamik und Evolution zellulärer und makromolekularer Prozesse", Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft (DFG, GRK 268). Project Leader: Prof. Reinhart Heinrich (Humboldt Universität Berlin, Germany).

National (Serbian):
2025 – 2026 Financially supported by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia (Contract No: 451-03-136/2025-03/200026 and 451-03-33/2026-03/200026).
2020 – 2024. Financially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (MPNTR): Grant No. 451-03-68/2020-14/200026, 451-03-9/2021-14/200026, 451-03-68/2022-14/200026, 451-03-47/2023-01/200026, and 451-03-66/2024-03/200026. The contract holder is the Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade.
2013 – 2019. "Rational design and synthesis of biologically active and coordinated compounds and functional materials, relevant in (bio)nanotechnology" (project No. OI/172035, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia). Project Leader: Prof. Ivan Juranić.
1994 – 1998. "Exploring new methods of synthesis and semi-synthesis and characterization of bioactive molecules" (project No. 02M34PT3, Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Serbia). Project Leader: Dr. Vlastimir Stamenković.