Dr. Ivana Jaric is a Group Leader at the Institute of Laboratory Animal Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland. From the early stages of her career, she has focused on female reproductive health. She earned her PhD from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, where she studied the effects of phytoestrogens on the female reproductive system during hormone-sensitive periods (peripuberty and menopause-like) in rats. For her postdoctoral work, she transitioned into neuroepigenomics while still focusing on ovarian hormones. She joined the newly formed Neuroepigenetics Laboratory at Fordham University (USA), where she investigated how hormonal and environmental factors contribute to sex differences in depression and anxiety. Her postdoctoral work revealed sex-specific epigenetic regulation in the female mouse hippocampus across the estrous cycle, providing a novel molecular framework for studying female-specific vulnerability to psychiatric disorders. In 2018, she joined the Animal Welfare Division at the University of Bern, Switzerland to expand its research scope from behavioral to molecular levels. There, she also established an independent research line investigating how common environmental factors shape reproductive and behavioral phenotypes in mice, and what this means for studies that include both sexes.
In July 2024, Ivana established the Neuroendocrinology Research Group at the University of Zurich, with two main focuses: (1) developing evidence-based guidelines to improve the “Sex as a Biological Variable” (SABV) framework in rodent research and increase its translational validity; and (2) exploring the intersection of stress, female reproductive health, and psychiatric disorders, with a special focus on endometriosis, a highly prevalent and under-studied disease.

Ivana is also a strong advocate for the inclusion of SABV in basic and preclinical research. In 2022, she initiated a bi-annual symposium in Switzerland to raise awareness and foster collaboration among researchers on this important topic.