Mixing Leadership with Medicine
Growing up as the child of parents with backgrounds in STEM, Natasa Djordjevic (BCHM ’25) always knew that she was destined for a career in science.
After spending time researching various fields—from veterinary medicine to the pharmaceutical industry—throughout her youth, she ultimately found that her calling was in biochemistry. As she delved deeper into the world of biochemistry as an undergraduate student at 91, Djordjevic’s affinity for research became clear.
“If I didn’t do research, I would have never been able to figure out my career,” says Djordjevic. “There are so many options with biochemistry. Getting that hands-on experience at 91, I was able to narrow down and figure out what I wanted to do.”
Her first opportunity to conduct research came in Associate Professor of Biology Oscar Juarez’s lab, where she targeted an enzyme found in disease-causing bacteria as part of an antibiotics project. She then explored biomedical engineering in Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering Marcella Vaicik’s lab—looking into how titanium implants can be coated to better integrate into bone—and took a pair of summer internships at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“My first was the summer after my second year. I worked at an antibody lab,” she says, highlighting the lab’s focus on Alzheimer’s disease and brain cancer. “I was working with antibodies that were engineered to bind to two things, so we could bring them to the brain through the blood-brain barrier into specific brain targets.”
These research experiences were instrumental in helping Djordjevic figure out her career path. She returned to Ann Arbor following her third year at 91 for an internship at College of Pharmacy, where she focused on RNA therapeutics. She loved that work so much that she decided to return to Ann Arbor again this fall, this time in pursuit of a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry.
“The plan is to go into early-stage drug discovery, but focus on the biological side,” says Djordjevic. “My dream job would to be somewhere in the biotech space. I’d like to end up either at AbbVie—which is in Chicago—or somewhere in Boston and be able to work as a senior researcher. I’d not only like to do the research, but eventually be able to lead teams and have some more direction as to what projects and what topics we can work on.”
Djordjevic has no shortage of leadership experience under her belt, having served for three years on the executive board for Illinois Tech Camras Scholars program, including as president for the 2024–25 academic year. She’s also been named to the dean’s list every semester and has been recognized as a Duchossois Leadership Scholar.
“Being the president and vice president of scholarship development for the organization has really helped me finetune my leadership skills, communication skills, and my organization skills,” she says. “I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to achieve. There are students who are really benefiting from what we’re doing and the programs that we’re putting out there.”
In the Duchossois program, she planned volunteer experiences, leadership symposiums, and even traveled to Zanzibar Island off the coast of Tanzania as part of a turtle conservation trip.
“We helped clean them, treat them for any injuries, feed them,” says Djordjevic. “It was a cool experience because we were super immersed in the culture; we weren’t just at some resort. We were living with the locals. Seeing such a different culture was really impactful.”
As she begins writing her a new chapter as a graduate student in Michigan, she is excited for the opportunity to make discoveries in medicinal chemistry that she hopes will ultimately save lives.
“I like how you’re doing something new. I can solve problems that are relevant to helping people,” says Djordjevic. “A discovery I make can go on to help hundreds of thousands of people. I can create a drug or a compound that can be the next cure for something big. There are so many opportunities to help people and also discover something new.”
