Jovana Despotović, PhD, is a molecular biologist whose research focuses on gene regulation in tumors, particularly colorectal cancer (CRC). She earned bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade. She defended her PhD thesis in 2022, on functional analysis of microRNAs involved in the regulation of the TGFβ signaling pathway and their role in the therapeutic response of metastatic CRC. Since 2015, she has been employed at the IMGGE, where she works as a research associate. She has participated in national and international projects, including the Program for Excellent Projects of Young Researchers of the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia (SFRS), a strategic project of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, bilateral cooperation with Germany, as well as COST Actions focused on CRC, RNA communication, and translational control in cancer. She is the principal investigator of the LiveRNA project, funded by the SFRS, focusing on CRISPR-Cas13 technology for real-time visualization and downregulation of RNA expression. She received research training at institutes in Spain and Germany. She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the national L’Oreal-UNESCO "For Women in Science" fellowship and the Goran Ljubijankić Foundation awards for the best master’s and doctoral theses in molecular biology. She is the author of several scientific publications in the field of molecular oncology. In recent years, she has focused on elucidating the roles of non-coding RNAs in the development and progression of human cancers, as well as their application as biomarkers. She actively participates in science promotion through lectures, science festivals, and professional training. She is a member of the Serbian Society for Molecular Biology, Serbian Association for Cancer Research, Federation of European Biochemical Societies, and serves as a member and ambassador of the European Association for Cancer Research.