Mira Milisavljević, PhD, graduated from the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, in 2002. She defended her master's thesis in 2005 and her doctoral dissertation titled "Expression, Activity, and Localization Analysis of FeAPL1 - a Novel Type of Aspartic Proteinase from Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench)" in 2009. Since 2003, she has been employed at the IMGGE, currently holding the position of Associate Research Professor.

Her scientific interests focus on the molecular mechanisms that safeguard genome integrity—one of the fundamental, evolutionarily conserved cellular functions essential for the survival and reproduction of all living organisms, particularly under adverse environmental conditions. Understanding these complex molecular pathways represents a major scientific challenge with significant potential applications in human health, medical diagnostics, agriculture, and crop improvement.

Using Ustilago maydis—a unicellular fungus with a conserved DNA repair system similar to that of humans—as a model organism, she investigates novel genes involved in DNA repair and homologous recombination, as well as genes that link cellular recovery from stress to genome stability maintenance. To identify and characterize the cellular functions of newly discovered genes, she develops innovative methodological approaches and applies molecular biology, biochemical, and cytological analyses.

To date, she has identified five novel genes with previously unknown functions that play important roles in genome protection. Additionally, she has demonstrated that several genes with known functions exhibit overlapping roles in genome safeguarding. She has also contributed to research on the role of two Dss1 genes in plant stress responses using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system, showing that the two protein variants have distinct roles in DNA repair and stress defence.