Dr. Danica B. Stanimirović

On behalf of the International Brain Barriers Society (IBBS) and our global scientific community, I wish to express our deepest condolences to Dušan and the rest of Dana's family, as well as her many friends and colleagues who are grieving this massive loss. Dana was a good friend and treasured colleague to me over several decades. My association with her came through our professional lives as scientists studying the blood-brain barrier and drug delivery to the brain. Dana was widely regarded as a world-renowned expert in cerebrovascular physiology, molecular organization of the blood-brain barrier, and CNS drug delivery. She was also a deeply trusted and valued scientific collaborator over decades to many, many people in academia and industry, including myself. This incredible loss will take some time for many of us to fully process. Dana was such a kind, thoughtful, and deeply intelligent leader in the CNS barriers field. Her scientific legacy will be felt for many years to come, from her pioneering methods to her elucidation of new blood-brain barrier targeting approaches via FC5 and IGF1R to her investigations of species differences in the expression of key transporters and receptors at the blood-brain barrier. Most of all though, Dana will be remembered by many of us for demonstrating through her actions and voice just what collegiality, leadership, mentoring, and responsibility should look like in our community. An organizer of many of the best meetings in our field, e.g. the 2007 International Conference on Cerebral Vascular Biology, Dana never shied away from investing her own time and effort to make the field better. Dana was a founding member of the IBBS, the major global non-profit representing our field, and has served on the IBBS Steering Council for more than a decade. She additionally was to have served as principal organizer for the 2nd 'Drug delivery to the brain' Keystone Symposium in Keystone, Colorado in February 2025, a role that others will now take up in her absence. Having known Dana for 25 years, it is very hard to accept that I won’t see her again at future CNS barriers meetings or be paired with her for scientific sessions (as we so often were earlier in our careers) or simply get the chance to talk with her as longtime friends do. She will be greatly missed by many. We are now planning to take time to remember Dana and all of her many contributions to the field at future meetings, beginning with the June 2024 'Barriers of the CNS' Gordon Research Conference. I look forward to coming together as a community to honor Dana's time with us and what she meant to so many of us personally and professionally. To Dana's family, thank you so much for sharing this remarkable person with all of us in her scientific community - thinking of myself and so many others in our field as her professional 'family', we will deeply miss Dana but her legacy and the example she set will no doubt continue to positively impact a great many of us going forward for years to come. Dana's remarkable, highly impactful career has shaped the field and she will be remembered for this and the wonderful, compassionate, thoughtful, artistic person she was for a long, long time.

It is with sadness that we learn of Dana's passing and heartfelt condolences to the family and friends. I had the pleasure of working with her for many years and had firsthand knowledge of the vision and foresight that she brought to all endeavors. May she now enjoy eternal rest.

I want to express my profound condolences to Dana's husband and family. Our loss here at the NRC is beyond imagination but even more so for you, her family. Dana's irreproachable skills as a scientist, leader, ground-breaker, mentor are only outmatched by her kind soul, artistic flair, and humanism. She is one of a very few where her loss will not only be felt profoundly by her NRC work family but her sudden parting is also a tremendous loss to Canada and the global world beyond. May peace be with you now...

Dear Dusan and Danica's family and her friends at the NRC, I am so deeply saddened by this tragic loss of such a wonderful and amazing person. I am deeply thankful for the opportunity to have met and worked with Danica. Sincerely, Colin

Danica departed much too soon, but her memory will continue to inspire and guide us, and her legacy will live through her many research impacts and in the hearts of those closest to her. My sincere condolences to her family, friends and close colleagues.

I am so sorry to hear of Danica's passing. My sincere condolences to her family, friends and colleagues. I was fortunate to have worked with Danica and I have fond memories of her exceptional contributions as a scientist, leader and person. Danica has made outstanding contributions in her life and her great positive influence on many will carry on much beyond her passing.

My sincere condolences to Danica’s family. Any death is sad, but an obvious premature one is very hard to accept. She had great mind and a wonderful personality. We will miss her a great deal at Kalgene Inc. A company established based on some of her patents in the Neuro field.

Rest in peace.

It was a privilege to work around Dana, her leadership, passion, research integrity and her warm heart guided me through everyday work. I really appreciate all the support, encouragement and opportunities Dana created. Dana will always be inspiration and motivation in my life. I am deeply sad for Dana’s passing, my condolences to her family and friends, we will miss her dearly.

My deepest sympathy to Dana's family. She was a special soul. Dana was always a supportive and caring mentor during my graduate training. I count myself lucky to have known such a special person. She will be missed.

I only met Danica virtually a few times during the Pandemic and felt better from those few times.

My condolences to the family on their loss.