Antonio Zandona

Pula, 9 February 1992

• 2021 – PhD IN CHEMISTRY (BIOCHEMISTRY AND MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY), FACULTY OF SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF ZAGREB
• 2016 – MSc IN MOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY, FACULTY OF FOOD TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ZAGREB
• 2014 – BSc IN BIOTECHNOLOGY, FACULTY OF FOOD TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ZAGREB

• 2023 – SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATE, DIVISION OF TOXICOLOGY, INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, ZAGREB
• 2021 – 2023. POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER, BIOCHEMISTRY AND ORGANIC ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY UNIT, INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, ZAGREB
• 2016 – 2021. PhD STUDENT, RESEARCH ASSISTANT, BIOCHEMISTRY AND ORGANIC ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY UNIT, INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, ZAGREB

• Cellular and molecular toxicology
• Structure-activity relationships of oxime reactivators and other small-molecule drug candidates
• Mechanisms of drug- and antidote-induced toxicity in cell models
• Modulation of cellular signalling pathways (activation and inhibition)
• Blood–brain barrier models and drug penetration into the central nervous system
• Evaluation of novel pharmacological agents, new classes of solvents, drugs of abuse, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants on cell level

• Biological Barriers Research Group (M. Deli group), Institute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre (Szeged, Hungary, 2024, 3 months)
• The Research Group of Molecular Environmental Toxicology (B. Zhao group), Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing, China, 2023, 2 weeks)
• Pharmacology (M. Tzvetkov group) Center of Drug Absorption and Transport, Institute of Pharmacology (Greifswald, Germany, 2023, 2 weeks)
• HEBE, CytoFLEX SRT Cell Sorter – Beckman Coulter (Zagreb, Croatia, 2022, 2 days)
• M. Castanho Lab, Institute for Molecular Medicine João Lobo Antunes (Lisbon, Portugal, 2021, 2 months)
• Laboratory for molecular neurobiology (S. Pirkmajer group) Institute for pathophysiology and Institute for anatomy, Faculty of Medicine (Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2019, 5 weeks)
• Workshops (7)
• Scientific courses (16)

PROJECTS

• Croatian-Slovenian bilateral grant – Modulation of neuromuscular transmission via skeletal muscle nicotinic receptors (2024 – 2025) – PI
• Horizon Europe – Evolvable and rapidly adaptable monobodies: a broad-spectrum antiviral platform (EvaMobs), PI: Claudio M. Soares (2023 – 2026) – Associate
• Completed as PI: Croatian Academy of Science and Art Support (3)
• Completed as Associate: national (2), bilateral (4) and Institute’s (2)

TEACHING

• Associate in the General Toxicology Course, Undergraduate Study, Biotechnology and Drug Research, University of Rijeka (2025 – present)
• Associate in the Toxicology, Postgraduate Specialist Study, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb (2025 – present)

SUPERVISION OF PhD AND GRADUATE STUDENTS

• PhD student (2025 – present)
• Professional student practices (7; 2020. – present)
• Supervisor for a diploma thesis (5; 2024. – present)
• Assistant supervisor for a diploma thesis (4; 2019. – present)

• EMBO scientific exchange grant (2024)
• Institute’s award – for young scientist (2023)
• Institute’s award for three first author papers in one year (2022),
• EMBO short-term fellowship (2021)
• Institute’s award for three first author papers in one year (2020)
• Poster awards (2; 2019, 2020)
• Communication challenge (2019)
• Travel grants/bursaries (5; 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
• Rector’s award (2016)

• International Brain Barriers Society (IBBS) (2024 – present)
• Association of University Teachers and Other Scientists in Zagreb (2023 – present)
• Member of the Croatian Society of Toxicology (HTD) (2020 – present)
• Representative of Assistants to the Scientific Council of the Institute (2018 – 2020)
• Croatian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (HDBMB) (2017 – present); Assistant Secretary (2025 – present); Finance Committee of HDBMB (2023 – 2025); Member of the Working group for young scientists (2020 – 2023)