UBFC is a higher education and scientific institution integrated in the international, especially European, educational and scientific environment. University of Belgrade (UB) is the oldest university in Serbia, and was ranked between 51-75 places in the field of food science and food technology in the 2021 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The Center of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences (CEMFS) at the UBFC has been established in 2014, and was awarded a center of extraordinary values status in the field of natural sciences. CEMFS consists of teachers, researchers and associates from Chairs of biochemistry, analytical and applied chemistry, and is organized into four research teams.

Prof. Marija Gavrovic-Jankulovic is a full professor and head of the Dept. Biochemistry. From 2012-2019 she was a PI of the project: “Allergens, antibodies and small physiologically active molecules: design, structure, function and relevance”, with results disseminated in more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and more than 30 national or international conferences during the implementation period. She is also coauthor of the textbook “Food Allergens: Biochemistry and Molecular Nutrition, published by Springer (ISBN 978-1-4939-0840-0). At the CEMFS, she leads the group for food molecular biotechnology. M. Gavrovic-Jankulovic is the supervisor for ESR6 and will host the final meeting.

In the ALLPreT project, she is involved as supervisor for Faiza Zafar (DC6). Other key staff involved in the project includes Milena Zlatanova MSc. and Isidora Protić-Rosić, MSc who will lead training activities.

Faiza Zafar is a PhD candidate at University of Belgrade, Serbia and Doctoral Candidate 6 in the ALLPreT project. She obtained her master’s degree from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan and Bachelor’s degree from PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She has previous work experience in investigating cardio-protective role of neurohormonal miRNA nexus in cardiac ischemia Model and worked with in vivo models. Her contribution to ALLPreT as DC6 focuses on developing an in vitro intestinal model for food allergen sensitization and uptake to study processes involved in food allergen sensitization in the human gut. During her PhD, Faiza Zafar will do two secondments, one at MatTek In Vitro Life Sciences Laboratories, SRO in Bratislava where she will work on commercial gut models and one at Dr. Didier Dupont’s lab at Institut National De Recherche Pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement in France where she will work with digestion models.