History

The founders of Medical Physiology in Serbia in 1926, at the Faculty of Medicine, are considered to be prof. Richard Burian and his assistant, later academician and president of SANU, Dr. Ilija Đuričić. In 1936, Dr. Ilija Đuričić founded the Institute of Physiology and Pathological Physiology at the newly established Faculty of Veterinary Medicine as a full professor. As a part-time teacher, he taught the Fundamentals of Zoology, Anatomy and Human Physiology at the Faculty of Pharmacy in the period from 1945-1957, when Dušan Kanazir took over the teaching position in the title of assistant professor, until 1959 then he transferred to the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Dusan Kanazir was also a member and later president of SANU in Belgrade. In 1962, Anđelija Popović, a graduate biologist at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, was elected assistant professor of Physiology with Fundamentals of Anatomy at the Faculty of Pharmacy. Until his retirement in 1994, Prof. Dr. Andjelija Popovic also performed the function of the director of the Institute of Physiology at the Faculty of Pharmacy.

The subject of Biology was introduced at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Belgrade in 1975 as part of the Department of Physiology. The first teacher in the subject was assistant professor Dr. Danica Jovović, a graduate biologist at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Belgrade. She defined the entire teaching content of the subject Biology and organized theoretical and practical classes, constantly improving the requirements of modern science. She retired in 1991.

In 1992, the subject with a changed name, Biology with Human Genetics, was taken over by Associate Professor Mirjana Hristić, PhD, who graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in 1962, with the focus research in Cytology and Embryology on Institute of Biological Research "Siša Stanković". In 2000, she retired. In the same year, the course was taken over by Assistant Professor Biljana Potparević, who improved the teaching of Biology with Human Genetics during several accreditations of study programs at the Faculty of Pharmacy, together with Prof. Dr. Lada Zivkovic and assistant with a doctorate, Diana Topalovic. In 2014, at the initiative of Prof. Dr. Biljana Potparevic, the Center for Biological Research was established at the Faculty of Pharmacy with the aim of promoting biological research and cooperation with domestic and foreign institutions in the field of cell biology and genetics, as well as understanding these important areas of biology in modern pharmacy.

In 1992, Dr. Gordana Leposavić became a assistant professor of Patophisiology with full time at the Faculty of Pharmacy . She improved the teaching of this subject, which during several accreditations of study programs at the Faculty of Pharmacy, was divided into two separate subjects: Pathophysiology 1 and Pathophysiology 2. During her work at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Prof. Leposavić led a number of scientific research projects that dealt with the issue of interactions between the neuroendocrine and immune systems in physiological and pathophysiological conditions. She left behind a rich mentoring work with candidates who worked on doctoral dissertations under her supervision. In 2021, she retired, and the subject was taken over by the former assistant with a doctorate, now assistant professor Dr. Jasmina Đuretić.

In 2018, due to the increased number of subjects and the volume of work, in order to facilitate the functioning, the former Department of Physiology was divided into two departments by forming the Department of Pathobiology. The first head of the Department of Pathobiology was Prof. Dr. Gordana Leposavić until her retirement in 2021, when Prof. Dr. Biljana Potparevic took over.