London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Educational/professional background

I completed a Medical Doctor's degree at the Medical School of Zagreb, Croatia during which I took several courses in International Health with the University of Oslo. After working as an ER doctor in Zagreb, I started a residency in infectious diseases at the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases. During the residency period, I took several breaks to work on a project establishing a pre-hospital emergency system in Sierra Leone. I'm an active member of the ESCMID ( European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases ) working on the Society's clinical guidelines.

Research interests or career goals

I am interested in viral diseases and immunology, including vaccines. Several years ago I started an online page and website for the Balkan region aiming to provide evidence-based vaccine information to all interested. Though firstly aiming mostly at parents, after the COVID-19 pandemics emerged, it became a much larger platform gathering many scientists, public health experts, pharmacologists, and other relevant professions who are working on COVID-19 vaccine communication. I would like to explore more of that field in the future in my work.

Why I chose LSHTM/my programme

I wanted to gain formal education in epidemiology. However, with work and family obligations, a one-year move to London or anywhere else was not possible. Considering that LSHTM is widely known for its well-established and organised distance learning programmes, it was an easy choice. I liked the flexibility and possibility to customise the pace of completing the course, as well as the opportunity of choosing electives from other relevant programmes, other than epidemiology.