Oncovirlab logo for the home page


About us

Our goal is to investigate immunological mechanisms, advance biomedical knowledge, and contribute to the development of effective therapies and vaccines.

The Oncovirlab team is a group of scientists and experts based at the Centre for Research and Knowledge Transfer in Biotechnology, University of Zagreb (Rockefellerova 10, 10000 Zagreb), dedicated to developing oncolytic viral preparations for the treatment of cancer in humans and animals. Our inspiration for pursuing this line of therapy stems from a successfully conducted case of self-treatment of human breast cancer within our group (link) here).

Our strengths lie in expertise in immunology, virology, and biochemistry, a strong commitment to scientific excellence, an interdisciplinary approach, and a passion for bringing scientific discoveries closer to people in order to address modern healthcare challenges.

The Oncovirlab research team’s expertise includes genotyping of RNA viruses, particularly paramyxoviruses and pneumoviruses1-7. In addition, our scientists are specialized in the development and optimization of upstream biotechnological processes8 and biological assays in virology and immunology1,9-13, as well as in the design of downstream purification and concentration procedures for biologically active macromolecules14-19 and their translation into end products.

We place special emphasis on knowledge transfer and collaboration – both within the academic community and with industry partners and public institutions. In this way, we contribute to the application of scientific discoveries in practice, foster the development of innovative therapeutic approaches, and ensure that research outcomes have a real impact on society.

Our laboratory is also a place for educating new generations of scientists, where students and young researchers have the opportunity to participate in projects, gain hands-on experience, and develop critical scientific thinking. In doing so, we actively contribute to the development of biomedical expertise in Croatia and beyond.

REFERENCES

  1. Ravlić S, Hećimović A, Kurtović T, et al. Is better standardization of therapeutic antibody quality in emerging diseases epidemics possible? Front Immun 2022;13:816159. Link to more information here.
  2. Ljubin-Sternak S, Slovic A, Mijac M, Jurkovic M, Forcic D, Ivkovic-Jurekovic I, Tot T, Vranes J. Prevalence and molecular characterization of human bocavirus detected in Croatian children with respriratory infection. Viruses-Basel 2021;13:1728. Link to more information here.
  3. Ljubin-Sternak S, Mestrovic T, Ivkovic-Jurekovic I, Kolaric B, Slovic A, Forcic D, Tot T, Mijac M, Vranes J. The emerging role of rhinoviruses in lower respiratory tract infections in children – clinical and molecular epidemiological study from Croatia, 2017-2019. Front Microbiol 2019;10:2737. Link to more information here.
  4. Jagusic M, Slovic A, Ivancic-Jelecki J, Ljubin-Sternak S, Vilibic-Cavlek T, Tabain I, Forcic D. Molecular epidemiology of human respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus in hospitalized children with acute respiratory infections in Croatia, 2014-2017. Infect Gen Evol 2019;76:104039. Link to more information here.
  5. Kosutic-Gulija T, Slovic A, Ljubin-Sternak S, Mlinaric-Galinovic G, Forcic D. Genetic analysis of human parainfluenza virus type 3 obtained in Croatia, 2011-2015. J Med Microbiol 2017;66:502-510. Link to more information here.
  6. Santak M, Slovic A, Ljubin-Sternak S, Galinovic GM, Forcic D. Genetic diversity among human parainfluenza virus type 2 isolated in Croatia between 2011 and 2014. J Med Virol 2016;88:1733-1741. Link to more information here.
  7. Jin L, Orvell C, Myers M, Rota PA, Nakayama T, Forcic D, Hiebert J, Brown KE. Genomic diversity of mumps virus and global distribution of the 12 genotypes. Rev Med Virol 2015;25:85-101. Link to more information here.
  8. Markusic M, Pavlovic N, Santak M, Maric G, Kotarski Lj, Forcic D. Critical factors for the replication of mumps virus in primary chicken embryo fibroblasts defined by the use of design of experiments (DoE). Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2013;97:1533-1541. Link to more information here.
  9. Kutle L, Pavlovic N, Dorotic M, Zadro I, Kapustic M, Halassy B. Robustness testing of live attenuated rubella vaccine potency assay using fractional factorial design of experiments. Vaccine 2010;28:5497-5502. Link to more information here.
  10. Forcic D, Kosutic-Gulija T, Santak M, Jug R, Ivancic-Jelecki J, Markusic M, Mazuran R. Comparison of mumps virus potency estimates obtained by 50% cell culture infective dose assay and plaque assay. Vaccine 2010;28:1887-1892. Link to more information here.
  11. Halassy B, Kurtovic T, Brgles M, Lang Balija M, Forcic D. Factors influencing preclinical in vivo evaluaton of mumps vaccine strain immunogenicity. Hum Vacc Immunother 2015;11:2446-2454. Link to more information here.
  12. Halassy B, Kurtovic T, Lang Balija M, Brgles M, Tunjic M, Sviben D. Concept of sample-specific correction of immunoassay results for precise and accurate IgG quantification in horse plasma. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2019;164:276-282. Link to more information here.
  13. Ravlic S, Kurtovic T, Krajinovic LC, Hecimovic A, Milos M, Lukacevic SM, Markotic A, Halassy B. What can neutralizing anibodies tell us about the quality of immunity in COVID-19 convalescents and vaccinees? Hum Vacc Immunother 2023;19:2270310. Link to more information here.
  14. Ravlic S, Brgles M, Hirsl L, Jonjic S, Halassy B. Production- and purification-relevant properties of human and murine cytomegalovirus. Viruses-Basel 2021;13:2481. Link to more information here.
  15. Brgles M, Sviben D, Forcic D, Halassy B. Nonspecific native elution of proteins and mumps virus in immunoaffinity chromatography. J Chromatogr A 2016;1447:107-114. Link to more information here.
  16. Sviben D, Forcic D, Ivancic-Jelecki J, Halassy B, Brgles M. Recovery of infective virus particles in ion-exchange and hydrophobic interacion monolith chromatography is influenced by particle charge and total-to-infective particle ratio. J Chromatogr B 2017;1054:10-19. Link to more information here.
  17. Kurtović T, Lang Balija M, Brgles M, Sviben D, Tunjic M, Cajner H, Marchetti-Deschmann M, Allmaier G, Halassy B. Refinement strategy for antivenom preparation of high yield and quality. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019;13: e0007431. Link to more information here.
  18. Kurtovic T, Ravlic S, Stimac A. Lukacevic SM, Kazazic S, Halassy B. Efficient and sustainable platform for preparation of a high-quality immunoglobulin G as an urgent treatment option uring emerging virus outbreaks. Front Immun 2022;13: 889736. Link to more information here.
  19. Kurtovic T, Brgles M, Lang Balija M, Steinberger S, Sviben D, Marchetti-Deschmann M, Halassy B. Streamlined downstream process for efficient and sustainable F(ab')2 antivenom preparation. J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis 2020;26:e20200025. Link to more information here.