Jovana Kostić - Универзитет у Београду – Институт за мултидисциплинарна истраживања

Jovana Kostić

PhD in Biological sciences

Research Associate Professor

Department of biology and inland waters protection

Address: Bulevar despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade

Telephone: (+381) 11 2078-475

E-Mail:

jkostic@imsi.rs
jkostic@imsi.bg.ac.rs

Links:

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6608-1013

Scopus ID: 56587727300

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jovana-Kostic-3

Research area

Integrated assessment of surface water quality using aquatic organisms as bioindicators of environmental health. In addition to the evaluation of basic physicochemical and microbiological water quality parameters, biomarker responses are analysed across multiple levels of biological organisation, from molecular and cellular to tissue level. Expertise includes the application of methods in microbiology, mutagenicity, toxicology, genetic toxicology, histopathology, as well as the analysis of microplastic particles in fish tissues for the assessment of ecological risk and the condition of aquatic ecosystems.

Skills

Analysis of metals and metalloids using the ICP-OES method, comet assay, micronucleus test, histopathological analyses of fish liver and gills, standard and enzymatic microbiological methods, light and fluorescent microscopy. Proficient in Microsoft Office, Statistica, and SPSS.

Biography
Projects
Selected publications

1.Work experience:
Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade

2025 – Senior Research Associate
2019 – 2025 Research Associate
2016 – 2019 Research Assistant
2013 – 2016 Јunior research assistant

2.Education:

2013–2018: Doctoral (PhD) Studies, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade
2005–2013: Bachelor’s and Master’s Studies, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade
2001–2005: Third Belgrade Gymnasium – Natural sciences and mathematics program

3.Awards and certificates

2024 – Recipient of the EEMGS New Investigators Travel Grant for participation in the 52nd European Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society Meeting and the 15th International Comet Assay Workshop, Rovinj, Croatia
2024 – Recipient of the SAIGE Project Fellowship for a research visit to the Department of Aquatic Ecology and Toxicology, University of Heidelberg
2022 – Recipient of the EEMGS New Investigators Travel Grant Award for participation in the 14th International Comet Assay Workshop (ICAW) & Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EEMGS) Meeting, Maastricht, Netherlands
2018 – Recipient of a conference scholarship for participation in the Central and Eastern European Conference on Health and Environment (CEECHE 2018), Krakow, Poland
2018 – Recipient of the Annual Award of the Institute for Multidisciplinary Research for outstanding achievements in scientific research
2017 – Recipient of the Young Scientist Grant for participation in the Microbiologia Balkanica 2017 Conference, Sofia, Bulgaria
2016 – Recipient of a conference scholarship for participation in the Central and Eastern European Conference on Health and Environment (CEECHE 2016), Prague, Czech Republic

4.Other professional activities

Courses taught:

2014–2018 – Participation in organising and conducting practical courses at the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade: for undergraduate courses in Microbiology and Microbiological Practicum, for master’s courses in Methods in Microbiology, and for postgraduate specialist courses in Microbiology
Mentor:
2019 – Nevena Aksović, “Microbiological and Ecogenotoxicological Assessment of Danube River Water Quality at the Višnjica Site”. Master’s Thesis.
Defense committee:
2023 – Sanja Stevanović, “Identification and Characterization of Microorganisms Isolated from Commercial Probiotic Products”. Specialist Thesis.
2018 – Jovana Jovanović, “Antibacterial and Genoprotective Effects of Aqueous Extracts from Selected Plants of the Lamiaceae Family”. Master’s Thesis.
2015 – Dragana Milovanović, “Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing of Selected Gram-Negative Bacteria Depending on Cell Count Using the Microdilution Method”. Master’s Thesis.

Editorial and Reviewer’s activity (journals, books, projects):

Reviewer for international scientific journals: Science of the Total Environment, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Acta Zoologica, Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Fishes, Molecules, Toxics, Scientific Reports.

Memberships:

Serbian Society for Microbiology
Serbian Biological Society
Serbian Genetic Society
Еuropean Environmental Mutagenesis & Genomics Society, EEMGSy

Current:

2025- MonStur in the Danube: Establishing, testing and launching a transboundary system for Monitoring Sturgeons, to manage and safeguard migratory fish in the Danube River Basin (Interreg Danube Region) https://interreg-danube.eu/projects/monstur-in-the-danube
2025- DANUBElifelines: Safeguarding Migratory Fish and their Habitats in the Danube River Basin and beyond (European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme) https://danubelifelines.eu/
2023- DANUBE4All: Restoration of the Danube River Basin waters for Ecosystems and People from mountains to coast (European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme) https://www.danube4allproject.eu/
2024- CA23133 – Large-scale Interdisciplinary Alliance on Nature-based SoLutions and Health: Indicators, InequalitY and Innovation (LILY) – member and Linkedin page administrator https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA23133/
2019- CEEPUS network „Ecology and Management of aquatic ecosystems in Central Europe EcoManAqua“

Past:

2020-2022 Evaluation of the microplastics impact on Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) by monitoring different biomarkers (Bilateral project Serbia-Slovenia)
2019-2021 Detection of stressors in the marine ecosystem based on genotoxicological and physiological markers in the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) (Bilateral project Serbia-Montenegro)
2018-2021 Managing and restoring aquatic Ecological corridors for migratory fish species in the Danube River Basin MEASURES (Interreg Danube Transnational Programme)
2018-2020 Harmonization of the microbiological methods for assessment of the Danube River water quality (Bilateral project Serbia-Austria)
2018-2019 Developing an E-learning tool for Environmental Education for Primary and Secondary School in the Lower Danube Region ELEDAN (Danube Strategic Project Fund – DSPF)
2016-2018 Implementation of Microbial Source Tracking (MST) method for assessment of faecal pollution in the Sava River and relation (potential relationship) to the presence of genotoxic agents (Bilateral project Serbia-Austria)
2014-2015 Establishing the basic microbial faecal pollution pattern along a large river: testing the longitudinal continuum vs. lateral discontinuum hypothesis at the River Danube (Austrian Science Fund – FWF)
2013-2018 “Fishes as water quality indicators in open waters of Serbia”, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, 2013-2019

Arsenijević, S., Kostić, J., Burazerović, J., Višnjić-Jeftić, Ž., Dimitrijević, M., Subotić, S. (2025). Genotoxic Evaluation and Bioindicator Potential of Myotis capaccinii in Serbia: Element Concentrations and DNA Damage as Pollution Markers. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 1-14.
Sunjog, K., Subotić, S., Kostić, J., Jasnić, N., Vuković-Gačić, B., Lenhardt, M., Višnjić-Jeftić, Ž. (2025). Biomarker-Based Assessment of Four Native Fish Species in the Danube River Under Untreated Wastewater Exposure. Fishes, 10(9), 445.
Kostić, J., Đorđević Aleksić, J., Višnjić-Jeftić, Ž., Nikolić, D., Marković, Z., Kračun-Kolarević, M., Tasić, A., Jaćimović, M. (2024). Aliens Among Us: Sensitivity of the Invasive Alien Fish Black Bullhead Ameiurus melas as a Bioindicator of Pollution and Its Safety for Human Consumption. Toxics, 12(12), 849.
Nikolić, D., Kostić, J., Aleksić, J. Đ., Sunjog, K., Rašković, B., Poleksić, V., Pavlović, S., Borković-Mitić, S., Dimitrijević, M., Stanković, M., Radotić, K. (2024). Effects of mining activities and municipal wastewaters on element accumulation and integrated biomarker responses of the European chub (Squalius cephalus). Chemosphere, 365, 143385.
Kostić-Vuković, J., Kolarević, S., Sunjog, K., Subotić, S., Višnjić-Jeftić, Ž., Rašković, B., Poleksić, V., Vuković-Gačić, B., Lenhardt, M. (2023). Combined use of biomarkers to assess the impact of untreated wastewater from the Danube River, Serbia. Ecotoxicology, 32(5), 583-597.
Kostić-Vuković, J., Kolarević, S., Kračun-Kolarević, M., Višnjić-Jeftić, Ž., Rašković, B., Poleksić, V., Gačić, Z., Lenhardt, M., Vuković-Gačić, B. (2021). Temporal variation of biomarkers in common bream Abramis brama (L., 1758) exposed to untreated municipal wastewater in the Danube River in Belgrade, Serbia. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 193(8), 1-18.
Kostić, J., Kolarević, S., Kračun-Kolarević, M., Aborgiba, M., Gačić, Z., Paunović, M., Višnjić-Jeftić, Ž., Rašković, B., Poleksić, V., Lenhardt, M., Vuković-Gačić, B. (2017). The impact of multiple stressors on the biomarkers response in gills and liver of freshwater breams during different seasons. Science of The Total Environment, 601, 1670-1681.
Kostić, J., Kolarević, S., Kračun-Kolarević, M., Aborgiba, M., Gačić, Z., Lenhardt, M., Vuković-Gačić, B. (2016). Genotoxicity assessment of the Danube River using tissues of freshwater bream (Abramis brama). Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 23(20), 20783-20795.

University of Belgrade - Institute for Multidisciplinary Research

National Institute of the Republic of Serbia

Research area

Skills