Dr. Jelena Bezbradica Mirkovic

Biography

Jelena Bezbradica Mirkovic is a Professor of Immunology at the University of Oxford, within the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences. She is also a Career Development Fellow at the Kennedy Trust Rheumatology Research. Her research focuses on elucidating the mechanisms that control the initiation and duration of inflammatory responses by innate immune cells. Specifically, she investigates how innate sensing and signaling by myeloid cells and macrophages activate appropriate effector responses during infection and tissue injury. Her work with the NLRP3 inflammasome is particularly noteworthy, as it serves as a critical sensor for maintaining tissue homeostasis and responds to both pathogen and tissue-derived danger signals. She aims to explore how the NLRP3 pathway can be regulated to develop therapeutic interventions for managing excessive inflammation associated with various diseases, including Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndromes and lifestyle-related inflammatory diseases. Dr. Bezbradica Mirkovic earned her Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Sebastian Joyce at Vanderbilt University, and has received additional training from reputable institutions including the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Research Interests

Experience