Tanja is an Assistant Professor at School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science. Her research focuses on elucidating the metabolism of bacteria, and using this knowledge and synthetic biology tools to exploit these bacteria to make high value products.

She graduated with PhD (2012) from the University of Belgrade, Serbia. This was followed by postdoctoral research at Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia, where she developed a biocatalyst based on recombinant whole cells for Michael-type formation of C-C bonds and synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant compounds.

In 2013 she moved to the University College Dublin where she worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow under the direction of Prof Kevin O'Connor. She investigated metabolic pathways of microorganisms using proteomics, metabolomics, enzymatic assays and synthetic biology tools as a part of FP7 and H2020 projects. In 2019, she joined BiOrbic Bioeconomy Research Centre where she coordinated several research projects among BiOrbic PIs, PostDocs, PhD students, as well as designing projects proposed by industrial partners.