Contact: jelena.sarac@inantro.hr, +38515535124

Academic and Scientific Degrees

  • 2023. – Senior Research Associate (Natural sciences, Biology), University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science
  • 2017 – Research Associate (Natural sciences, Biology), University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science
  • 2015. – PhD (Natural Sciences, Biology, Genetics, evolution and philogeny), University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science
  • 2001–2006 Study of Anthropology and German language and literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb

Work Experience

  • 2023. -Deputy to head of Center for Applied Bioanthropology, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2023. – Head of Laboratory for molecular bioanthropology, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2023. – Senior Research Associate, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2017 – Research Associate, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2015 – Postdoctoral assistant, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2009 – Assistant to Editorial board of the International Journal “Collegium Antropologicum”, Croatian Anthropological Society, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2008 – Assistant, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2007 – 2008 German teacher at the Private classical high school in Zagreb

Projects:

  • 2024-2025 – ,,INVESTIGATING THE BIOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF INDOOR AIR POLLUTION AND ITS RELATION TO ASTHMA IN CHILDREN“, Bilateral Croatian-Austrian project, Ministry of Science and Education, Croatian project leader
  • 2022 – 2026 INANTRO team leader, “Evidence-driven improvement of indoor air quality – EDIAQI” (principal investigator: Franscesco Mureddu, The Lisbon Council for Economic Competitiveness ASBL, Bruxelles, Belgium), HORIZON Europe (HORIZON-HLTH-2021- ENVHLTH -02-02)
  • from 2021 member of the Working Group for the preparation of the “Draft Proposal of the Action Plan for the Prevention of Obesity” of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia
  • 2021 – 2022  Tracing the Slavic origins of croatians using ancient genomes, Austrian Science Foundation, Joint Excellence in Science and Humanities (JESH) team leader
  • 2020 – 2022 Unravelling data for rapid evidence-based response to COVID-19 (unCoVer), European Commission, HORIZON 2020, Leader of INANTRO team: Miran Čoklo, PhD
  • 2021 – 2022  Reconstruction of genetic diversity and migratory patterns of late Avar population using ancient DNA analysis, Austrian Science Foundation, Joint Excellence in Science and Humanities (JESH), team leader: Dubravka Havaš Auguštin, PhD
  • 2019 – COST action CA16216 – Network on the Coordination and Harmonisation of European Occupational Cohorts, Management Committee substitute
  • 2019 – “Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative, Croatia (CroCOSI) (European Office of the World Health Organization and the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Project officer for Croatia: Assistant Professor Sanja Musić Milanović)
  • 2018 – 2019 “Centre for Applied Bioanthropology (BIOANT)” (European fund for Regional Development, project officer: Professor Damir Marjanović, PhD)
  • 2015 – 2018 “Croatian islands’ birth cohort study (CRIBS)” (Croatian Science Foundation, project officer: Assistant Professor Saša Missoni, PhD)
  • 2016 – 2017 “Integrated GWAS and EWAS of Cardiometabolic Traits in an Island Population” (NIH, USA, project officer: Professor Ranjan Deka, PhD and Assistant Professor Saša Missoni, PhD)
  • 2013 – 2015 „Genetic and environmental factors of insulin resistance syndrome and its long term complication in immigrant Mediterranean populations – MEDIGENE“ (2012-2015, European Commission, FP7, project officer of the Croatian research team: Assistant Professor Saša Missoni, PhD)
  • 2014 – „Health status and life quality of athletes“, (2014-2016, Polyclinic for occupational and sports medicine, project officer: Joško Sindik, PhD)
  • 2008 – 2013 “The population structure of Croatia – anthropogenetic approach” (Ministry of Science and Education, project officer: Academician Pavao Rudan)
  • 2008 – 2012 “Functional changes of internal organs, working ability and biological ages”, project officer: Professor Zijad Duraković, PhD
  • 2008 «Genetics of Metabolic Syndrome in an Adriatic Island Population», National Institute of Health, USA in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati, USA

Organizational Skills and Competences

  • 2024 – member of the Organizing Committee and Secretary general of the international congress „23rd EAA Congress -16th ISGA Congress – SSHB Congress“
  • from 2022 member of the Executive Committee of the “International Society for the Study of Human Growth and Clinical Auxology”
  • 2020 Member of the EAA (European Anthropological Association) Council
  • since 2015 – „ISABS Conference on Forensic and Anthropologic Genetics and Mayo Clinic Lectures in Individualized Medicine“, member of the ISABS Organising Committee, international scientific congress, 500 participants, Brač/Dubrovnik/Split, Croatia
  • 2010 – 2018 Organisation of scientific meetings “Anthropology and health“ and Schools of Biological Anthropology „Dr. Huber Maver“
  • Secretary of the following Schools of Biological Anthropology „Dr. Huber Maver“:
    2013 Anthropology of Adolescence
    2010 Anthropology-Transition in the Paradigm: Population Study to the Search for Disease Genes
  • member of the Organising Committee of the following Schools of Biological Anthropology „Dr. Huber Maver“:
    2018 Diseases and Health in Past Populations – Global Trends and Perspectives
    2015 Longitudinal Studies in Holistic Anthropological Approach
    2011 Current Research on Palaeolithic in Southern and Central Europe
    2010 The Vindija Neandertals and their Place in History
  • Secretary of the following “Anthropology and health“ scientific meetings:
    2018 Birth cohorts and intervention strategies for healthy pregnancy – insights from the CRIBS study and other birth cohorts
    2012 Anthropology of Tradition and Transition
    2012 Current Topics in European Anthropology
    2011 Addressing Vexing Challenges in the Year 2011
    2010 From Population Structure to Genetic Epidemiology
  • member of the Organising Committee of the following “Anthropology and health“ scientific meetings:
    2011 Cultural Dimension of Cardiometabolic Syndrome
    2017 Anthropology in the Service of Global Health

Scientific and Professional Work

  • 2021 Ministry of interior of the Republic of Croatia, scientific training in Next Generation Sequencing, NGS library preparation
  • 2020  In house training – llumina MiSeq sekvencer, Agilent 4200 TapeStation  and Agilent AriaMx Real-Time PCR System 5, at the Laboratory for Molecular Anthropology,  Centre for Applied Bioanthropology
  • 2019. Mayo Clinic Short Course on Epigenomics (Split, Croatia, 16th June 2019)
  • 2019 Institute of Genomics Core Facility, Tartu, Estonia – scientific training in next generation sequencing (NGS)
  • 2018 – Next Generation Sequencing data analysis, Institut Universitaire de Recherche Clinique (IURC), Monpelier, Francuska (mentor: Prof. Florin Grigorescu)
  • 2017 Workshop “Balkan Forensic DNA Working Group Meeting”, scientific training  in  forensic and application of population genetics, International Burch University, Sarajevo, BIH
  • 2009 – 2012 – znanstveno usavršavanje (analize markera mitohondrijske DNA i Y kromosoma na otočnim i kontinentalnim populacijama Hrvatske); Tartu, Estonia, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu and Estonian Biocentre
  • 2007 – Metodološki tečaj u biologiji i medicine pod nazivom “DNA i RNA” na Institutu “Ruđer Bošković” u Zagrebu

Research interest: molecular anthropology, population genetics, biomedicine, nutrigenetics

List of publications – Link

Teaching Experience

  • 2015 – “Anthropology of nutrition”, Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Zagreb; assistant
  • 2010 – 2015 – “Molecular archeogenetics”; Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Zagreb assistant
  • 2009 and 2011 – “Anthropology and aging”; Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Zagreb; assistant

Memberships in Professional Organizations and Associations

  • International Society for the Study of Human Growth and Clinical Auxology (ISGA)
  • European Anthropological Association
  • Croatian Society of Human Genetics
  • Croatian Obesity Society
  • International Society of Applied Biological Sciences (ISABS)
  • International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES)

Fellowships and awards

  • 2022 prize for the best abstract at the 12th International Congress of the Union of European Neonatal and Perinatal Societies (UENPS)
  • 2015 and 2018 – Fellowship of the European Society for the Study of Obesity for the participation in the European Conference on Obesity
  • 2013 – Fellowship of the European Society for Human Genetics for the participation in the European Human Genetics Conference 2013 (Paris, France)
  • 2012 – Award for the 3rd best oral presentation of young scientists at the international scientific meeting “3rd Congress of Croatian Geneticists”, Krk, May 13–16 2012
  • 2009 – 2012 – ECOGENE Fellowship of the European Commission during professional training in the Estonian Biocentre, Tartu, Estonia