Forum of the Institute for Mental Health
STRESS in Health and Disease
16–17 April 2026 | The Yugoslav Film Archive, Uzun Mirkova 1, Belgrade
| DAY ONE - April 16, 2026 | |
| 10:00 – 14:00 | Workshop for Early - Career Mental Health Professionals Dr Ivanka Jovanović Dunjić and Aleksandar Dimitrijević |
| 16:00 - 17:00 | Registration |
| 17:00 – 17:15 | Opening Ceremony |
| Plenary Lectures Moderators: Prof. Olivera Vuković, Prof. Bojana Pejušković |
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| 17:15 – 17:45 | Academician Dušica Lečić Toševski Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts “The Many Faces of Stress” |
| 17:45 – 18:15 | Prof. Donatella Marazziti Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Italy „PTSD and resilience: from neurobiology to novel pharmacological targets“ |
| 18:15 – 18:25 | Break |
| 18:25 – 18:45 | Prof. Bojana Pejušković Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, IMH, Serbia “Where Trauma Ends and Personality Begins: Complex Trauma, Borderline States and Depression” |
| 18:45 – 19:05 | Prof. Stojan Bajraktarov Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, University Clinic of Psychiatry, Skopje, North Macedonia “Collective Trauma and Individual Pain: The Limits of Shared Compassion” |
| 19:05 – 19:15 | Discussion |
| 19:15 – 20:00 | Satellite Symposium: Gedeon Richter Prof. Olivera Vuković Prof. Čedo Miljević “Schizophrenia and Comorbidities: Why the Standard Therapeutic Approach Is Often Not Enough?” |
| 20:00 | Cocktail Reception |
| DAY TWO - April 17, 2026 | |
| 09:00 – 10:00 | Registration |
| Plenary Lecture Moderator: Prof. Čedo Miljević |
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| 10:00 – 10:30 | Prof. Eric Vermetten Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands „Beyond Ecstasy: Appraising MDMA in PTSD Treatment"c |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Prof. Alma Džubur Kulenović Eurofarm Polyclinic Sarajevo | Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Medical School ”Biological Therapeutic Options in the Treatment of PTSD” |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | Prof. Darko Marčinko School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, KBC Zagreb, Croatia “Psychodynamics of Stress in Clinical Medicine” |
| 11:00 – 11:20 | Prof. Olivera Vuković, reviewer Prof. Alma Džubur Kulenović Prof. Bojana Pejušković, author “Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” |
| 11:20 – 11:30 | Discussion |
| 11:30 – 11:50 | Break |
| Stress and Mental Health Stress and Mental Health Moderators: Clinical Assistant Ana Munjiza Jovanović, Clinical Assistant Maja Milosavljević Marković |
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| 11:50 – 12:05 | Prof. Vesna Pešić Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade, Serbia “The Role of Oxidative Stress in Depression – Results of Preclinical and Clinical Studies” |
| 12:05 – 12:20 | Prof. Čedo Miljević Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, IMH, Serbia “Stress and Schizophrenia” |
| 12:20 – 12:35 | Prof. Mirjana Jovanović Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Psychiatry Clinic, University Clinical Centre Kragujevac, Serbia “The Neurobiology of a Vicious Circle: Interaction Between Stress and the Brain Reward System” |
| 12:35 – 12:50 | Prof. Lidija Injac Stevović Faculty of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Montenegro “Stress and Suicide” |
| 12:50 – 13:15 | Prof. Aleksandar Dimitrijević International Psychoanalytic Association “Psychotherapeutic Approaches to the Stress Brought by Loneliness” |
| 13:15 – 13:25 | Discussion |
| 13:25 – 14:10 | Satellite Symposium: Viatris Prof. Bojana Pejušković Clinical Assistant Danilo Pešić “Theory Proposes, Practice Confirms – Optimal Pharmacotherapy for the Consequences of Stress and Depression”, “When Anxiety Hurts and Neuropathic Pain Frightens – One Drug, Two Clinical Faces” |
| 14:10 – 15:00 | Lunch |
| Stress and Physical Health Moderators: Assoc. Prof. Zorana Pavlović, Clinical Assistant Nikola Lalović |
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| 15:00 – 15:15 | Prof. Olivera Vuković Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, IMH, Serbia “Psychocardiology: Where Stress Turns into Disease” |
| 15:15 – 15:30 | Prof. Aleksandra Jotić Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, University Clinical Centre of Serbia “Stress and Diabetes” |
| 15:30 – 15:45 | Dr Sci. Med. Sanja Vignjević Petrinović Institute for Medical Research, Belgrade, Serbia “Chronic Stress and Malignancy: Inflammation as the Connecting Link” |
| 15:45 – 16:00 | Prof. Šarlota Mesaroš Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Neurology Clinic, University Clinical Centre of Serbia “Multiple Sclerosis and Stress – a Two-Way Street” |
| Forensic Psychiatric Aspects of Stress | |
| 16:00 – 16:20 | Prof. Aleksandra Dickov Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Psychiatry Clinic, Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, Serbia “The State of Fear in Forensic Psychiatry” |
| 16:20 – 16:35 | | Discussion |
| 16:35 – 16:50 | | Closing of the Forum |