Academician Nebojša Radunović passed away

It is with deep regret that the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA) announces the passing of Academician Nebojša Radunović at the age of 73 on 15 September 2026 in Belgrade. Born on 18 May 1954 in Kosovska Mitrovica, he was one of our foremost experts in the field of gynaecology and obstetrics, perinatal medicine and human reproduction.

He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Belgrade in 1978. In 1985, he completed his specialisation in gynaecology and obstetrics, followed by a subspecialisation in perinatology in 1993.

He received his Master’s Degree (1982) and Doctorate (1985) at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade, where he was appointed a teaching assistant in 1987 for the course Gynaecology and Obstetrics. He was appointed assistant professor in 1994, associate professor in 1999, and full professor in 2004. From 2001, he served as the head of the Department of Postgraduate Studies in Human Reproduction.

In 1979, he began working at the Institute for Gynaecology and Obstetrics of the Clinical Centre of Serbia. In 1991, he became head of the Department of Prenatal Diagnostics. In 1998, he was appointed head of the Department of Human Reproduction, and from 2003 to 2008, he served as director of the Institute.

He was elected a Corresponding Member of the Department of Medical Sciences of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2009 and a Full Member in 2015.

Within the Academy, he served as president of the Board for Human Reproduction. He was also a member of the Board for Cardiovascular Pathology, the Board for Multidisciplinary Research on Diabetes, the Board for Tumours of the Urogenital System, and the Board for the Study of National Minorities and Human Rights.

In the United States, he was appointed visiting professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the New York University School of Medicine in 1997 and at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven in 2003. In 2004, he became a visiting professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

His professional activities are also reflected in his membership of and leadership roles in a number of expert national and international associations and institutions. He was a member of the Medical Academy of the Serbian Medical Society; president of the Serbian Association for Perinatal Medicine and the South East European Society for Perinatal Medicine (SEESPM); a member of the European Association for Perinatal Medicine (EAPM) and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE); and vice-president of the Mediterranean Society for Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (MEDUOG).

He also served as president of the National Commission for Perinatal Medicine and as a member of the National Commission for Assisted Reproduction of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia.

His editorial work was also significant. He was a member of the editorial board of the international journal Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine and editor of the volume Recent Advances in Perinatal Medicine.

Throughout his long and highly productive career, he achieved significant results in the field of maternal–fetal medicine, where he developed entirely new diagnostic procedures for the timely detection of hereditary and acquired disorders in the human embryo and foetus during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy.

His pioneering work on the development of ‘closed’ surgery is of particular importance. It enabled the timely intrauterine correction of numerous anomalies affecting the human embryo and foetus. He significantly contributed to the development of in vitro fertilisation by innovative approaches to reproductive medicine and the treatment of infertility. By introducing his own technique for transfusing blood into the fetal umbilical cord in utero, which significantly increased the success rate of treating fetal anaemia, he gained recognition across the globe. His scientific results have been cited in the world’s leading medical journals and textbooks.

Academician N. Radunović’s bibliography includes 330 bibliographic entries, including 16 books and monographs, four textbooks, and six chapters in books published abroad.

He received  a number of honours and accolades, including: the Charter (1987) and the Plaque (1991) of the Serbian Medical Society for his contributions to the field of medical sciences, the October Prize of the City of Belgrade for scientific research (1993), the Charter of the Association for the Application of Ultrasound in Medicine, Biology and Veterinary Medicine of Serbia (1991), the Plaque of the Macedonian Medical Society (2004), the  Ayaşlı Şaban Şifâî Special Award of the University of Ankara (2008). He was elected an honorary member of the Romanian Association of Perinatal Medicine in 2007.

His passing represents a profound loss for the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and for the overall society.