Background: I am intrigued by many aspects of life on a molecular level and I a desire to implement my knowledge of molecular biology in an applied context, through integration of new findings and creativity.
I obtained both my bachelor’s and master’s degree in molecular biology at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. During my master’s, I studied interactions among proteins in transgenic plants and gained valuable experience in genetic engineering.
As a PhD student, I look forward to expanding my experience in genetic engineering, learning about correlation between structure and function of membrane transporters, as well as testing my findings in an industrial setting.
About Project 12:
Engineering plasma membrane transporters to improve organic acid production
Microbial production of organic acids is an emerging field due to the increasing role of these compounds as platform chemicals. Currently, a key goal of organic acid production in yeast cell factories is to improve its export through the plasma membrane, increasing the flux towards extracellular product formation. Genome-mining approaches will be used to identify suitable candidate organic acid transporters. S. cerevisiae strains will be engineered for the production of biotechnologically relevant acids through expression of these candidate transporters.
Training Programme in Yeast Biotechnology 