About Jelena Materljan Franki

Jelena Materljan Franki

PhD student

jelena.materljan@uniri.hr

Jelena graduated as an MD from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Rijeka in July 2020. During her studies, she worked as a student teaching assistant at the Department of Histology and Embryology for four years. She is the recipient of two Dean's awards for academic excellence. As of September 2021, Jelena is employed at the Center for Proteomics as a PhD student working on the thesis “Immunobiology of vector vaccines carrying SARS-CoV-2 structural antigens with the emphasis on mucosal immunity“. The main focus of the thesis is studying the immune response in mice after systemic or intranasal immunization with murine cytomegalovirus-based vaccines expressing SARS-CoV-2 S protein and comparison with commercially available COVID-19 vaccines.

Selected Publications:

    1. Cokarić Brdovčak M, Materljan Franki J, Šustić M, Miklić K, Medved M, Gaćina L, Ružić T, Jonjić S, Brizić I, Krmpotić A. Cytomegalovirus-Based Viral Vectors Elicit Robust Systemic and Tissue-Resident Immune Response Against SARS-CoV-2 Antigens. Eur J Immunol. 2026
    2. Metzdorf K, Jacobsen H, Kim Y, Teixeira Alves LG, Kulkarni U, Brdovčak MC, Materljan J, Eschke K, Chaudhry MZ, Hoffmann M, Bertoglio F, Ruschig M, Hust M, Šustić M, Krmpotić A, Jonjić S, Widera M, Ciesek S, Pöhlmann S, Landthaler M, Čičin-Šain L. A single-dose MCMV-based vaccine elicits long-lasting immune protection in mice against distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants. Frontiers in Immunology. 2024
    3. Cokarić Brdovčak M, Materljan J, Šustić M, Ravlić S, Ružić T, Lisnić B, Miklić K, Brizić I, Pribanić Matešić M, Juranić Lisnić V, Halassy B, Rončević D, Knežević Z, Štefan L, Bertoglio F, Schubert M, Čičin-Šain L, Markotić A, Jonjić S, Krmpotić A. ChAdOx1-S adenoviral vector vaccine applied intranasally elicits superior mucosal immunity compared to the intramuscular route of vaccination. Eurupean Journal of Immunology. 2022
    4. Šustić M, Cokarić Brdovčak M, Lisnić B, Materljan J, Juranić Lisnić V, Rožmanić C, et al. Memory CD8 T Cells Generated by Cytomegalovirus Vaccine Vector Expressing NKG2D Ligand Have Effector-Like Phenotype and Distinct Functional Features. Frontiers in Immunology. 2021.

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