Academician Ljubiša Rakić passed away
It is with deep regret that the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts announces the passing of its full member of the Department of Medical Sciences Ljubiša Rakić, aged 92 (b. 11 April 1931 in Sarajevo), one of our most distinguished experts in the field of neurosciences, in Belgrade, on 14 October 2022.
His research encompassed the following fields: regulatory mechanisms of excitation and inhibition in the central nervous system, biochemical organization of the central nervous system, evolution biochemistry and brain physiology, gene therapy of tumours, mechanisms of signal transduction and gene activation and regulation in brain cells, i.e. molecular neurobiology. Academician Rakić founded the most modern school of neurobiology in our country, thus facilitating our scientific intellect to be in sync with world trends.
He received his MSc as well as his PhD in 1969 from the School of Medicine of the University of Belgrade, where he got a post as a teaching assistant at the Department of Physiology following his graduation. He held all teaching positions at the School of Medicine in Belgrade and was elected a full professor of physiology and biochemistry in 1974. He was also a professor of post-doc studies in the field of neurobiology at the University of Belgrade.
He was professionally trained at the P.K. Anokhin Institute of Normal Physiology in Moscow (in 1956) and the Brain Research Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles (1961-1962). He was the head of the Centre for Research of the Clinical Centre of Serbia in Belgrade, as well as the Institute of Biochemistry. He founded the Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Neurochemistry (nowadays the Department of Neurobiology) at the Institute for Biological Research ‘Siniša Stanković’ of the University of Belgrade, and the International Laboratory for Brain Research in Kotor under the auspices of UNESCO and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the American government.
He was elected a corresponding member of the SASA in 1974, and its full member in 1983. During the period from 2008-2015, he was the SASA Vice-President in charge of natural sciences.
Professor Rakić was a corresponding member of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, a full member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1984), the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo (1978), a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1982), New York Academy of Sciences, International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska (2011), European Academy of Sciences and Arts with the seat in Salzburg, and other research institutions. He was a member of numerous expert associations, some of which are as follows: the World Health Organization in Geneva, European Society of Neurological Sciences; International Brain Research Organization of UNESCO, European Society for Neurochemistry, Serbian Medical Society; American Physiological Society and British Neuroscience Association (BNA).
His prolific scientific bibliography comprises over 500 research papers, with 2/3 having been published in international scientific journals. He is the author of nine research monographs and co-author of five textbooks.
For extraordinary scientific contribution, he received numerous recognitions and awards, in particular: the 7th July Award (1968), AVNOJ Award (1977), Labour Day Order with a golden wreath, ‘Brotherhood and Unity’ Order and Peace Contribution Medal (1994)
His contributions to our neurology and breaking new ground in this field are tremendous.
His passing represents a great loss for the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and overall Serbian science.