Katarina Šapić is a research assistant in the Molecular Microbiology IMGGE.

She earned her Bachelor's degree in Biology from the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade in 2020, followed by a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology and Physiology in 2021, with a specialization in Forensic Biology. Since 2021, she has been pursuing a PhD in Genetics at the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade. Her research experience includes working as a junior researcher at the Center for Forensic and Applied Molecular Genetics from 2022 to 2023, and afterwards at the Molecular Microbiology Group at the IMGGE from 2023 to 2024. As of 2024, she holds the position of research assistant.

Her PhD research investigates the structural and functional properties of capsular exopolysaccharides in the opportunistic pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii, one of the major causes of hospital-acquired infections. Specifically, her study examines the K locus responsible for capsule biosynthesis, a key virulence factor that protects the bacterium from environmental stressors and is considered a potential target for vaccine development. Working with hypermucoid clinical isolates, she has generated knockout mutants to investigate how the disruption of these surface polysaccharides affects bacterial physiology, virulence, and tolerance to desiccation, antimicrobials, and immune defences, with the broader aim of better understanding of A. baumannii’s persistence and informing novel therapeutic strategies.