Prof.dr.sc. Jerka Dumić

Our own professor and the Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, Jerka Dumić, will join us to discuss personalised healthcare and show what kind of role pharmacist and medical biochemist have in it.
Genetic characteristics of patients, in addition to the molecular basis of diseases provide a platform for personalisation of therapy. Yet, the most challenging and demanding goal for us is preventing, or at least postponing disease symptoms. Professor Dumić urges us to keep in mind that “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”, meaning that all professions providing medical care should be actively involved in that process.
Professor Jerka Dumić has received her undergraduate education in Medical Biochemistry and obtained her PhD degree in biomedical sciences at the University of Zagreb. She was doctoral fellow at Universität für Bodenkultur in Vienna, Austria, and postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. She served as a Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, and is currently teaching Biochemistry courses, Immunology, Personalised Healthcare and Molecular basis of diseases and therapy.

 

 

Lana Ganoci, MMedBiochem

Have you ever wondered which drug identification therapy is possible to individualize today? Well, then you are in the right place. .
MMedBiochem Lana Ganoci will join us to introduce pharmacogenetics/pharmacogenomics of drug metabolism and transport, as well as review the current guidelines for clinical implementation of pharmacogenetics tests for drugs like warfarin, clopidogrel, statins, thiopurine drugs, antidepressants, codeine, fluoropyrimidines, and immunosuppressants.
Lana Ganoci is an Analytical Toxicology Specialist at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb. She graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry at the University of Zagreb in 2004., and has been working for five years in the Division for Pharmacogenomics and Therapy Individualization and on her Ph.D. under the mentorship of Professor Nada Božina. Her primary interest is the implementation of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics into the clinic and primary care system.

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Doc.dr.sc. Arijana Meštrović, MPharm

Do you want to learn how WHO and FIP endorse the public health role of a pharmacist? How pharmacists can self-assess themselves and thier current level of practice, thus allowing themselves to progress independently in various roles? Despite the differences in educational activities, teaching methods and programs internationally, all pharmacy practitioners have the same goal – to improve the status of the patients by improving therapeutic outcomes in pharmacotherapy. And doc.dr.sc. Arijana Meštrović will join us to show us how.
Doc.dr.sc. Arijana Meštrović, MPharm has been working 14 years as a community pharmacist and she was responsible for education and competency development in the biggest pharmacy chain in Croatia. She is now Assistant Professor and independent consultant in Pharma Expert international agency, providing lectures and workshops in CPD programs for pharmacists, implementing new services in pharmacy chains and teaching Professional Practice and Pharmaceutical Care at universities in Croatia and Cyprus. Her Doctor’s degree is in biomedical sciences – competency development in pharmacy. Arijana is dedicated to promote competency-based education in CPD cycle among pharmacy practitioners, so her teaching usually addresses all components of competencies – knowledge, experience and motivation.

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Prof.dr.hab. Cecilia Victoria Cristea

Professor Cecilia Victoria Cristea will join our Congress to present to you how electroimmunosensors can be used in diagnostics, focusing mainly in breast and ovarian cancer.
The precise diagnosis of cancer is nowadays relied on histological evaluation of tissues using methodes such as immunohistochemistry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunofluorescence (IF) and Western blot. All of those depend on the extraordinarily selective and versatile reagent in the form of the antibody.
During her lecture she will talk about new research towards the development of electrochemical immunosensors for the detection of breast and ovarian cancer biomarkers.
Prof.dr.hab. Cristea started her rich carreer at the Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and at the Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Pharmacy. During her career, she increased her knowledge of electrochemistry, organic electrosynthesis and electroanalysis. Nowadays, her research interest is primarily focused on the modification of electrodes for application in biomedical, pharmaceutical and environmental field.

 

 

Justyna Skowyra, MPharm

After Spiritam, world's first 3D printed drug produced by an US company Aprecia, many research centres are working on utilising 3D printing in producing small batches of individual dose tablets or modified release pills.
If you want to see what kind of potential 3D Printing has in pharmaceutical technology, join us and MPharm Justyna Skowyra, who will present to us the basics of 3D printing techniques used in Pharmacy, their main benefits as well as current research in the field of pharmacy.
Justyna Skowyra is a Master of Pharmacy from the Medical University of Warsaw, and is currently a trainee at the Agency for Health Technology Assessment in Poland. During her career as a medical 3D printing expert she was the co-founder of Printed Health. She is also the former president and Secretary General of Young Pharmacy Warsaw, Students Section of Polish Pharmaceutical Society.

 

 

Dr. Cristina Manuela Drăgoi

Dr. Cristina Manuela Drăgoi will join the Congress to show us different effects of glucose homeostasis and metabolic balance, from the endocrinology perspective. Considering melatonin as a major synchronizer of the physiological processes involved in energy metabolism, we can observe its tremendous effect in the regulation of metabolic processes in the chronobiology.
Dr. Drăgoi has had her PhD education at UMF "Carol Davila" in Bucharest at the Faculty of Pharmacy, and her post-doctoral education at UK Biochemical Society and FEBS. During her career, she has based her work on biochemical mechanisms and pharamcotherapy of bio-compounds with indole structure, biotechnologies in the pharmaceutical industry and enhancing molecular bioscience education.

Marin Banovac, MPharm, Risk Management Specialist at the European Medicines Agency (EMA)

After initial work experience in pharmaceutical industry, he joined Croatian Medicines Agency as a pharmacovigilance assessor and afterwards as an alternate member in Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC). From 2014 to 2016 he was seconded as a national expert to the EMA in Pharmacovigilance Department – Signal Management, later to join EMA as a Risk Management Specialist in Oncology, Haematology  and Diagnostics Office. He is a pharmacist with an MSc in Clinical Pharmacology, regular guest lecturer at Zagreb Faculty of Pharmacy and Medical School and a member of International Society of Pharmacovigilance.

 

 

Franjo Čaić, MPharm

MPharm Franjo Čaić - the proud idea maker of CPSA's Virtual PharmaCon himself! - will join us to give a speech about career opportunities in the field of regulatory affairs.
Regulatory affairs is a relatively new profession which developed from the desire of governments to protect public health by controlling the safety and efficacy of products in areas including pharmaceuticals, veterinary medicines, medical devices, pesticides, agrochemicals, cosmetics and complementary medicines.
Franjo Čaić holds a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Zagreb, Croatia. He works as a trainee at the European Commission in DG SANTE (Health and Food Safety). Previously he worked in a consultancy company as a regulatory affairs officer, in Pharmacovigilance at Croatian Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices, as well as in a community and hospital pharmacy.
He is the former member of CPSA (Croatian Pharmacy and Medical Biochemistry Students' Association) executive and advisory board, and was awarded EPSA's (European Pharmaceutical Students' Association) ''LS of the year'' for 2014.

 

 

Alen Marijam, MPharm

MPharm Alen Marijam, who currently works at GSK as a health-economist for the emerging markets region, will present us the connection between health economics and outcomes research.
During his studies, Alen was heavily involved with local and international student organizations which led him to continue expanding his fields of interest. After his Pharmacy degree, Alen decided to consolidate his experience and expertise with a Master’s degree in Health Economics (HE) at the University of London. He also took up the opportunity with GSK Vaccines and developed a cost-effectiveness model on seasonal influenza vaccination for application in Brazil and worked in London at a Health Economics and Market Access consulting firm, Evidera, where he adapted ad developed cost-utility models for medical devices and oncology pharmaceuticals to a wide range of countries.

 

 

Brendan Murray, MPharm

Brendan Murray, MPharm - probably more known as The Enthusiastic Pharmacist - will be joining us to give a presentation about "Clinical Pharmacy in the UK & Republic of Ireland".
Brendan Murray, MPharm is a community pharmacist in the Republic of Ireland, previously having worked as a hospital pharmacist in the United Kingdom. 
He also holds a degree in Biotechnology from the National University of Ireland, Galway. He studied pharmacy at the University of Portsmouth in the UK and he completed preregistration training in hospital.

He is the former European Officer at BPSA where he represented Pharmacy students in the UK at a European level, at the European Pharmaceutical Students` Association (EPSA) events. 
Since his first FIP congress in Dublin in 2013, he has attended as many FIP world Congresses around the world as possible. In 2014, he started the initiative called "The Enthusiastic Pharmacist", where he encourages young pharmacists and pharmacy students to attend more pharmacy events around the world and get more involved in their profession.
During his presentation, he will aim to give a clear insight into the structure of hospital training. He will discuss the job roles and the career structure of a clinical pharmacist, and also show us how students can gain more experience and get involved.

 

 

Daniela Kolberg, MPharm

Pharmacist are trained to get the big picture without neglecting the details, to break down a tricky problem into handy pieces and to explain complex things by using plain and simple words. These are the basic skills that we all gain during our pharmacy studies, most of us without even knowing. If you look at the bottom of it, you will see that these skills are ultimately about communication and project management. Now me, I am sort of reinforcing these pharmacist’s core competencies in my career – as a marketing advisor. My professional life is all about communication and communication consulting in marketing, PR and advertising in the healthcare sector - and a loooot of project management. Being a consultant is a super interesting, diverse, creative, strategic, exhausting and constantly changing job profile. Join my session if you want to find out more!