Dr Dzenita Muratovic

Dr. Dzenita Muratovic is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Orthopaedic and Trauma Research (CORT), Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. In 2018 Dr. Muratovic was awarded her Ph.D. at The University of Adelaide with Dean’s commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence. In her PhD project, she pioneered a multi-modal approach to investigate the tissue changes in the subchondral bone in human osteoarthritis (OA), specifically bone marrow lesions (BML). This research led her to become intrigued by the role of subchondral bone in the development and progression of OA and to further explore combinations of underlying factors (molecular, cellular, biomechanics, systemic) that potentially may lead to a different degree of degeneration of osteochondral unit and subsequently to the progression of osteoarthritis.
Dr. Muratovic subsequently undertook postdoctoral research training. Here, Dr. Muratovic investigated active TGFβ1 as a critical factor associated with degenerative changes of osteochondral tissue in human osteoarthritis. In return, this work opened up an entirely new therapeutic paradigm, namely that targeting subchondral bone as a novel OA treatment strategy. In recognition of her research excellence and commitment to translating research findings into improved clinical outcomes, Dr Muratovic was awarded the Arthritis Australia 2021 Fellowship to explore bone tissue further as a specific target for osteoarthritis management. Also, Dr Muratovic was a successful grant awardee for a Project Grant by Arthritis Australia, Bone Health Foundation, Swiss Light Source (SLS) and the Paul Scherrer Institute and ISAP (International Synchrotron Access Program) project grant.
Her research work has been published in high-quality and high-impact factor journals, with several more manuscripts being submitted for publication. Dr Muratovic's work has been exceptionally well received by her peers, as shown by more than 20 awards she has won when presenting at national and international scientific meetings.
Dr Muratovic's future research interests are to use her expertise to investigate further pathomechanism that potentially leads to the progression of osteoarthritis. Dr Muratovic's ultimate research aim is to change the lives of those suffering from Osteoarthritis.

In addition, prior to and during academic research engagement (since 2004), Dr Muratovic has been employed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital Anatomical Pathology and Histopathology Laboratory/Mortuary and SA Tissue Bank, Adelaide, Australia. Dr Muratovic is technically accomplished across numerous complex analyses of human tissue histopathology and histomorphometry, immunocytochemistry and gene expression, Dr Muratovic’s specialist knowledge of translational human pathology and osteoarthritis research and unique skill set are essential to lead, guide and support the diverse and demanding research projects and studies.