Anita Milicic

Anita Milicic studied Molecular Biology and Physiology at the University of Belgrade, Serbia, before completing MSc in Genetics and DPhil in Immunology at the University of Oxford. In 2009 she joined the Jenner Institute in Oxford as the Head of the Adjuvant Facility, acquiring and testing a range of novel vaccine adjuvants for human and veterinary application, resulting in the selection of Matrix M as the choice adjuvant for the R21 malaria vaccine.

Anita now leads the Vaccine Formulation and Adjuvants Group, with a focus on exploring immune mechanisms of vaccines and adjuvants, and developing novel vaccine formulations and delivery modalities. Her research interest is in understanding the processes that underpin the immune response to vaccination, in particular the interplay between innate and adaptive immunity. This is studied through modulating the context (i.e. vaccine platform) and the kinetics of vaccine antigen delivery, employing a combination of in vitro and in vivo animal model systems and human in vitro and ex vivo studies.

Apart from research, Anita is involved in teaching at Oxford and externally (Milicic, A., Vaccination [Video file], Henry Stewart Talks: The Biomedical & Life Sciences Collection, 2021) and writing popular science articles on vaccination and vaccine adjuvants.

Anita is the Jenner Institute Director of Graduate Studies and the Lead for Public Engagement with Research.