Josipa obtained her PhD in medicinal chemistry at Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb, Croatia. Through her PhD studies, and work at BioZyne Ltd. Josipa was investigating synthesis and characterization of two types of biologically active compounds: modified nucleobases and peptide-phenanthridine derivatives. The latter were also used as fluorescent probes for polynucleotides and proteins. Through that part of research she studied interactions of synthesized compounds with polynucleotides and proteins via spectroscopic (UV/Vis, circular/linear dichroism and fluorescence) techniques. As a postdoctoral researcher on Ruđer Bošković Institute, she investigated potential new diagnostic method for the Alzheimer type dementia. As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Gothenburg, she was investigating potential kinase inhibitors for the treatment of metabolic disorders.

At Hemispherian, Josipa will be working on optimising the chemical synthesis of our lead candidates as well as developing new compounds to expand our drug portfolio. This position is funded by H2020 European SME Innovation Associate - funding from the European Comission.