Jovana Drinjakovic
Jovana Drinjakovic is a science writer with a background in cell and developmental biology. After completing her PhD in Cambridge (the old one) and a postdoc at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Jovana decided to switch gears and enrolled into a journalism course at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. Her writing appeared in the Globe and Mail, the National Post, Dallas Morning News and U of T Magazine. Most days Jovana writes about discoveries at U of T’s Donnelly Centre, where she works as a communication specialist.
Posts by: Jovana
Are blood stem cells hiding inside the bone to avoid sun damage?
Blood stem cells may have evolved to inhabit bone tissue to avoid DNA damage from UV rays, a Harvard study suggests. Also known as haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), these cells are tasked with making blood — a medley of about a dozen cell types that move oxygen around the body, fight infections and help wounds […]
Gene therapy makes inroads to help patients — and clear its name
Plagued by failures of early human studies from the 1990s, including the death of a patient, gene therapy is making a comeback with promising results. And it has a tiny virus to thank. After the first 2012 European gene therapy approval for a liver disease, and last year’s first U.S. approval of a therapy for […]
Home is where the gut is
The potential of lab-grown mini organs goes beyond learning how to manufacture replacement body parts to undo disease; it could allow researchers to glimpse, for the first time, the swaths of microorganisms that live inside us and shape our health. A deeply entrenched belief that microbes are universally bad is shifting as a result of […]
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