Ivan Đikić

Ivan Đikić (born 28 May 1966 After finishing his medical studies, he continued to pursue his PhD thesis in molecular biology at the University of Zagreb and at the New York University School of Medicine until 1997. He continued to work as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Joseph Schlessinger in New York from 1995 to 1997 before starting his own group at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Uppsala (Sweden). the Croatian Academy of Medical Science, and the European Academy of Sciences.

He is a member of the editorial board for Cell.

Research Đikić's research focuses on deciphering molecular mechanisms of cellular signaling pathways, which have a high relevance to human diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and inflammation. Early on, he started to focus on ubiquitin to understand how this modification controls multiple cellular functions, and managed to prove a concept of ubiquitin signal recognition by specialized domains serving as specific receptors. More recently, his team has revealed the functions of linear ubiquitin chains in pathogen defense and overall immune response. He expanded his research to the field of selective autophagy, recognizing the enormous impact of the LC3/GABARAP signaling network displaying striking mechanistic similarities to ubiquitin. One major focus is on the crosstalk between autophagy and endocytic machineries, and in this context he has gained fundamental insight in autophagic processes at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER-phagy).

Education In 1998, Đikić initiated the series of Dubrovnik Cell Signalling Conferences, which has been sponsored by EMBO continuously since 2004. Moreover, he is actively involved in organization of EMBO Meetings (Ubiquitin Meetings in 2015, 2013; Autophagy Meeting 2011, Cellular Microbiology/Cell Biology Meeting in 2010, 2008), EMBO Courses (2012, 2010, 2008, 2006 on Ubiquitin/SUMO; 2010 on Ubiquitin & DNA damage) as well as Keystone and CSH Meetings. In July 2016, he was hosting the Frankfurt Conference on Ubiquitin and Autophagy together with Volker Dötsch, Hubert Serve and Heide Genau.

Personal life

He's married to Inga Đikić with whom he has three children. He's a Christian of Roman Catholic denomination and has stated publicly that he sees no conflict between science and religion.

Honors and awards 1997–2003 Research Award, Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Germany 2008 Award of the International Society of Blood Purification, Brijuni Islands 2008 City of Split Award – Annual Prize for Science, Croatia 2010–2015 European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant, Brüssel, Belgium 2010 Order of Duke Branimir for international promotion of Croatia 2013 Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine 2013, Jung Foundation for Science and Research, Hamburg, Germany 2013 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation, Bonn, Germany 2015 Member of the Academia Europaea 2019 American Academy of Arts & Sciences 2023 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine