CONGRES AWARDS

Countries of SHM1RC congress participants are highlighted in red (Serbia, Croatia, Türkiye, France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Greece, Denmark, Estonia, Russia, Spain, Belgium, Montenegro, USA)

Awards for the Best among the Best

As part of the congress program, researchers were recognized for exceptional achievements and for delivering high-quality abstract presentations during the closing Award Ceremony. Awards were available across four categories, and seven participants were honored with awards.

Award committee

1. Prof. Gergely Szakacs, Austria
2. Prof. Thomas Mohr, Austria
3. Prof. IeronymosMakis Zoidakis, Greece
4. Prof. Katalin Klára Goda, Hungary
5. Dr Ivan Ranđelović, Hungary
6. Dr Andrei Turtoi, France
7. Dr Árpád Szöőr, Hungary

The European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) Best Poster prize awards were presented by EACR Board member Prof. Evi Lianidou to:

1^st EACR Poster prize: Beyza Ozturk Sever, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Turkey – Investigation of the effect of exportin-1 gene inhibition with Selinexor on glioma).

Beyza Öztürk Sever is a PhD student in the Neuroscience Program at BahçeşehirUniversity Graduate School, conducting her research in the Faculty of Medicine underthe supervision of the Assoc. Prof. Dr. Timuçin Avşar. Her work focuses on neuro-oncology, particularly on exploring combination therapies and drug-resistancemechanisms in brain tumors. She earned her BSc in Molecular Biology and Geneticsfrom Yıldız Technical University and her MSc in Neuroscience from BahçeşehirUniversity. Her current research integrates molecular and translational approaches tobetter understand therapeutic resistance in glioblastoma and other central nervoussystem tumors.

2^nd EACR Poster prize: Vuk Gordić, Institute for Biological Research „Siniša Stanković“ – National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Serbia – The effect of novel diclofenac-based carbone-substituted prodrug on colon cancer cell lines and mouse-derived organoids.

Vuk Gordić is a Master Biologist and PhD candidate at the Faculty of Biology, University ofBelgrade, specializing in Cellular and Molecular Oncology. Since May 2024, he has beenemployed at the Department of Immunology of the Institute for Biological Research “SinišaStanković” – National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade where he worksas a research trainee.He is currently involved in the ADVANCED project, implemented within the PRIZMA programof the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia. His research focuses on tumor biology, immuno-oncology, innovative therapeutic approaches, and tumor microenvironment analysis.Through his work, Vuk aims to contribute to the development of advanced therapeutic strategiesand a deeper understanding of the biological processes underlying tumor growth andprogression.

3^rd EACR Poster prize: Ivana Banićević, Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Serbia – A 3D in vitro osteosarcoma model based on porous scaffolds and a perfusion bioreactor for preclinical applications.

Ivana Banićević is a Research Assistant and a PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering at theFaculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade. She works in the laboratory ofBiomedical Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Dr Bojana Obradović, and her researchprimarily focuses on 3D in vitro cell culture models. Ivana Banićević was employed in theinternational project “PREMUROSA” (grant no. 860462, 2020-2024) and is currently engaged inthe national project “Bioengineered Tumor” (program PRIZMA, Science Fund of the Republicof Serbia, 2024-2027). She spent several months at Keele University in the UK, the University ofEastern Piedmont „Amedeo Avogadro“ in Italy, and at the AO Research Institute Davos,Switzerland.

Within the 3^rd EACR Best poster prize, the Scientific Committee highlighted the connected preclinical work of two young scientistsIvana Banićević and Marija Pavlovićfrom the same research group from the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Serbia.

Marija Pavlović is a junior research assistant and PhD student at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, under the supervision of Prof. Dr BojanaObradović. She received scholarships from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the Fund for Young Talents. Her research focuses on the development of 3D bone models based on biomaterials and bioreactors in the field of tissue and tumor engineering. She participated in the ExcellMater international school, a summer school in bioinformatics, and a short-term training at CAAD Novara. She is currently involved in the BioengineeredTumor project (2024–2027) funded by the Science Fund of Serbia. At the SHM1RC she presented follow up results as a poster “Short- and Long-Term Studies of a 3D Osteosarcoma Cell Culture Model for Doxorubicin Drug Screening”.

Award committee

1. Prof. Engin Ulukaya, Turkey
2. Prof. Inga Urlić, Croatia
3. Prof. Jelena Milašin, Serbia

Two Molecular Oncology Journal Awards for best short presentations were awarded by their Ambassador Dr Oyku Geyik to Muhlis Akman (Turkey) and Janja Josić (Croatia).

Muhlis Akman, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Turkey, for the abstract “TFEB Controls Chemoresistance in NSCLC”.


Dr. Muhlis Akman is a molecular and computational cancer researcher whose work bridges experimental and bioinformatic approaches to understand how tumor cells adapt and resist therapy. After completing his Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine at the University of Turin, where he explored the molecular basis of drug resistance in lung cancer within the COST Action STRATAGEM project, he joined Bahçeşehir University as a postdoctoral researcher. His research focuses on uncovering cellular and molecular mechanisms of cancer plasticity to identify new therapeutic targets. Dr. Akman has published his research in high-impact journals and serves as a reviewer for international scientific publications.

Janja Josić, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia, for the abstract “Expression profiling of p53 family isoforms in targeted therapy-resistant primary melanoma cell lines”.

Janja Josić earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in molecular biology from the Faculty of Science(PMF), University of Zagreb, Croatia. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Molecular Biosciences at the Universityof Osijek under the supervision of Dr Ignacija Vlašić, within Dr Neda Slade’s project “Uncoveringmechanisms of melanoma resistance to BRAF/MEK inhibitors.” Alongside her doctoral research, she isemployed in the field of molecular biology at Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb. Her scientific interestsinclude melanoma biology, mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies, and the functional roles of thep53 protein family and their isoforms in cancer.

Award committee

1. Prof. Aysegul Cebi, Turkey
2. Dr Tanja Matijević Glavan, Croatia
3. Prof. Katarina Zeljic, Serbia

FEBS OpenBioAward for best young researcher abstract was presented by their ambassador Dr Tamara Saksida to:

Josipa Jelačić, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia, for the abstract “Estrogen receptor modulation and Hedgehog-GLI crosstalk in Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma”.

Josipa Jelačić earned her master’s degree in 2021 from the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. Shereceived the Dean’s Award for the best graduate student and the “Zoran Zgaga” Award for the bestgraduate thesis. In the same year, she enrolled in doctoral studies and began working on her doctoralthesis entitled “The role of estrogen receptors in the biology of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma”at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb, under the supervision of Dr. Petar Ozretić. She is currently afinal-year student and the author of five original and three review papers, as well as 25 conferenceabstracts. She received an EACR Travel Grant, directly supervised four graduate theses, and participatedin six scientific projects and numerous science popularization events, as well as in the organization of twointernational conferences.

Award committee

1. Prof. Klaus Pantel, European Society for Liquid Biopsy Chairman, Germany
2. Prof. Evi Lianidou, European Society for Liquid Biopsy Board Member, Greece
3. Prof. Karen-Lise Garm Spindler, Denmark

The European Society for Liquid Biopsy (ELBS) Award for Best Liquid Biopsy Abstract was awarded to Dr Bojana Cikota-Aleksić, Military Medical Academy, Belgrade, Serbia, for the abstract ”The association of baseline concentrations of circulating tumor DNA with clinical course of advanced melanoma”.

Dr Bojana Cikota-Aleksić is employed at the Military Medical Academy, Belgrade, Serbia. Duringher career,she was trained in Cardiff, UK and through ESHG courses for laboratory clinicalgeneticists. She is a member of the Serbian Society for Cancer Research (SDIR) and the SerbianGenetics Society.In her PhD thesis, she analyzed the clinical significance of minimal residual diseasedetection/quantification in lymphoma patients and considers implementation of lymphocyteclonality testing into routine clinical practice in Serbia as her most significant professionalachievement. Presently, as a work-package leader at the ReDiMEL project, she works on the implementationof liquid biopsy into clinical management of melanoma patients.