Category Archive for : ‘Ongoing Projects’

PROJECT TITLE: Centre of Excellence for Viral Immunology and Vaccines (CerVirVac)

FUND: European Regional Development Fund

DURATION: 01.01.2024. – 01.01.2027.

COORDINATOR: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine

INSTITUTIONS IN THE NETWORK:
Centre for Research and Knowledge Transfer in Biotechnology of the University of Zagreb
Clinic for Infectious Diseases “Dr. Fran Mihaljevic”, Zagreb

Total value of the project: EUR 1.443.315,13

Brief description:
The first operational period of this Centre of Excellence resulted in significant achievements and laid the groundwork for new research and objectives: (1) increasing capacity to conduct cutting-edge research in viral immunology and the development of vaccines and

Project title: Designing better cytomegalovirus-based vaccines: boosting mucosal immunity

Call title: Installation Research Projects

Call code: UIP-2025-02-5202

Funding source: Croatian Science Foundation

Applicant name: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine

Coordinator: Asst. Prof. Maja Cokarić Brdovčak, PhD

Research Team, University of Rijeka Faculty of Medicine:

Jelena Materljan Franki, MD, PhD
Marko Šustić, MD, PhD

Project implementation period: 01.04.2026 – 31.03.2031

Total project value: EUR 299.980,00

Brief description:

The global COVID-19 pandemic underscored the devastating impact of respiratory pathogens and highlighted the urgent need to improve current vaccination strategies. In particular, it prompted interest in incorporating mucosal immunity into vaccine design, due

Project title: Immunoevasion strategies of cytomegalovirus: Modulation of MHC I and cytotoxic lymphocytes

Call title: Installation Research Projects

Call code: UIP-2025-02-2353

Funding source: Croatian Science Foundation

Applicant name: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine

Coordinator: Asst. Prof. Jelena Železnjak, PhD

Research Team, University of Rijeka Faculty of Medicine:

Asst. Prof. Paola Kučan Brlić, PhD
Tina Ružić, PhD
Magdalena Medved

Project implementation period: 01.04.2026 – 31.03.2031

Total project value: EUR 299.420,00

Brief description:

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a widespread ß-herpesvirus that can persist in its host for a lifetime. One of its main strategies to evade immune response involves modulation of major histocompatibility complex

Project title: UNIRI PROJECTS FOR MATERIALLY DEMANDING RESEARCH – The role of immunological mechanisms in the development of neurological disorders induced by viral infection

Funding source: University of Rijeka

Project code: uniri-mzi-25-57

Coordinator: Assoc. prof. Ilija Brizić, PhD

Research Team:

Prof. Stipan Jonjić, MD, PhD
Prof. Astrid Krmpotić, MD, PhD
Mijo Golemac, MD
Fran Krstanović, PhD
Valentina Hribljan, PhD
Andrea Mihalić
Lucija Šakota

Total funding: 80.311,67 €

Project implementation period: 01.10.2025. – 30.09.2029.

Brief description: Congenital infection with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most common congenital infection

Project title: UNIRI PROJECTS BY YOUNG RESEARCHERS AND RESEARCHERS RETURNEES – The effects of inflammation on cardiovascular system

Funding source: University of Rijeka

Project code: uniri-mz-25-63

Coordinator: Marko Šustić, MD, PhD

Total funding: 27.804,16 €

Project implementation period: 01.10.2025. – 31.01.2029.

Brief description: In recent decades, physiological and pathological processes in the heart have been increasingly looked upon through the lens of the immune system, giving birth to the new field of cardioimmunology. Several lines of research have indicated that latent cytomegalovirus infection (CMV)

Project title: UNIRI PROJECTS BY YOUNG RESEARCHERS AND RESEARCHERS RETURNEES – Latent CMV in the brain: a hidden threat or adaptation?

Funding source: University of Rijeka

Project code: uniri-mz-25-32

Coordinator: Fran Krstanović, PhD

Total funding: 22.665,65 €

Project implementation period: 01.10.2025. – 30.04.2028.

Brief description: All human herpesviruses enter a latent state after the resolution of primary infection. While alpha-herpesviruses, such as herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) establish latency in neurons, other herpesviruses have not been reported to maintain latency

Project title: UNIRI PROJECTS FOR MATERIALLY DEMANDING RESEARCH – Deciphering the molecular portrait of cytomegalovirus infection at the single cell level

Funding source: University of Rijeka

Project code: uniri-mzi-25-26

Coordinator: Assoc. prof. Berislav Lisnić, PhD

Research Team:

Assoc. prof. Vanda Juranić Lisnić, PhD
Prof. Astrid Krmpotić, MD, PhD
Marko Šustić, MD, PhD
Asst. prof. Maja Cokarić Brdovčak, PhD
Andrea Mihalić

Total funding: 69.248,44 €

Project implementation period: 01.10.2025. – 30.09.2029.

Brief description: Single-cell RNA sequencing technology (scRNA-Seq) has enabled gene expression measurement in individual cells and thereby

Project title: UNIRI PROJECTS BY EXPERIENCED RESEARCHERS – Characterization of the immune response to cytomegalovirus infection in adrenal glands

Funding source: University of Rijeka

Project code: uniri-iz-25-106

Coordinator: Assoc. prof. Vanda Juranić Lisnić, PhD

Research Team:

Jelena Železnjak, PhD
Marija Mazor, PhD
Ivana Bertović, MD
Magdalena Medved
Martina Brnjić

Total funding: 52.843,85 €

Project implementation period: 01.10.2025. – 30.09.2029.

Brief description: Cytomegalovirus is a widespread virus that infects most of the world’s population, as well as most tissues and organs. The kinetics of virus replication and

Project title: UNIRI PROJECTS BY EXPERIENCED RESEARCHERS – From model to therapy: investigating monoclonal antibodies for nectins in tumor microenvironment

Funding source: University of Rijeka

Project code: uniri-iz-25-48

Coordinator: Prof. Tihana Lenac Roviš, PhD

Research Team:

Prof. Stipan Jonjić, MD, PhD
Asst. prof. Paola Kučan Brlić, PhD
Valentina Hribljan, PhD
Milena Hasan, PhD
Ema Bellulovich

Total funding: 47.345,75 €

Project implementation period: 01.10.2025. – 30.09.2029.

Brief description: Immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) immunotherapy has been approved for several target proteins and is key in the treatment

Project title: UNIRI PROJECTS BY EXPERIENCED RESEARCHERS – Profiling Nectin family proteins in human tumors: a pilot biobank project for enhancing immunotherapy strategies

Funding source: University of Rijeka

Project code: uniri-iz-25-173

Coordinator: Asst. prof. Paola Kučan Brlić, PhD

Research Team:

Prof. Tihana Lenac Roviš, PhD
Prof. Nives Jonjić, MD, PhD
Mijo Golemac, MD
Devis Pascut, PhD
Marija Mazor, PhD
Ema Bellulovich

Total funding: 40.979,25 €

Project implementation period: 01.10.2025. – 30.09.2029.

Brief description: Proteins from the nectin and nectin-like family represent a new generation of immune