FARMACEUTSKI FAKULTET UNIVERZITETA U BEOGRADU

Their core work

The Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Belgrade is an academic research unit specializing in pharmaceutical sciences, with a demonstrated focus on two connected areas: predicting neurotoxicity risks during preclinical drug development, and applying pharmacogenetics to psychiatric treatment. Their researchers contribute scientific expertise to large international consortia — assessing how candidate drugs affect the nervous system, and investigating how genetic variation should guide the choice and dosing of psychiatric medications. In practice, this means they work at the intersection of toxicology, genomics, and clinical pharmacology, bringing academic laboratory and analytical capability to applied drug safety and precision medicine questions.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their H2020 participation opened with a drug safety angle — neurotoxicity prediction in preclinical discovery — reflecting expertise in assessing harm potential before drugs reach clinical trials. As their participation progressed, the focus shifted toward personalized medicine in psychiatry: pharmacogenetics, individualized dosing, and psychopharmacology implementation. This arc suggests the faculty is moving from laboratory-based toxicology toward clinical translation and genomics-informed prescribing, which is consistent with broader trends in precision psychiatry across Europe.

They are moving toward genomics-driven clinical pharmacy — particularly applying genetic data to psychiatric prescribing — making them a relevant partner for precision medicine, biomarker-based treatment stratification, or pharmacovigilance projects.

How they like to work

This faculty has participated exclusively as a consortium partner — never as coordinator — across both of their H2020 projects. They operate within large, internationally distributed consortia (34 unique partners across 17 countries), suggesting they are brought in as domain specialists rather than project drivers. This pattern is typical of academic units that offer specific laboratory or analytical expertise to broader research programs led by larger institutions.

The faculty has built connections with 34 unique consortium partners across 17 countries through just two projects, indicating their consortia were large and geographically diverse. Their European reach through RIA-funded research places them within well-networked academic and clinical research groups across the continent.

What sets them apart

As the only pharmacy faculty in Serbia participating in H2020 research on both neurotoxicology and pharmacogenomics, this institution brings a Balkan academic anchor to Western-led European consortia — useful for projects needing geographic diversity or patient population access in Southeast Europe. Their combination of drug safety assessment and psychiatric pharmacogenetics is a relatively rare pairing that bridges toxicology and precision medicine within a single institution.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PSY-PGx
  This is their longest and most recent project (running to 2026), focused on implementing pharmacogenetic testing in real psychiatric care settings — a clinically and commercially high-relevance area in personalized medicine.
• NeuroDeRisk
  Their highest-funded project (EUR 696,150) addressing neurotoxicity de-risking in drug discovery — a core bottleneck in pharmaceutical R&D with direct industry relevance.