It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden and untimely passing of our beloved Danica Stanimirović. Danica passed on January, 17 2024 at the Ottawa General Hospital.
Danica’s life was nothing short of exceptional anyway you look at it.
Danica got the very first public acknowledgment of her talent for math and science in her native Serbia in 1977 when selected, after a grueling entrance exam, as one of only 120 freshmen students of the prestigious Belgrade Mathematical Grammar School. Danica very soon realized that the life has way more to offer besides the “core business” of math and science (in both of which she naturally excelled). During her teenage years, Danica developed love for art. Her literary work was awarded on numerous occasions during her high school and university years. Unknown to many, Danica was also part of a very vibrant Belgrade punk scene in the early 1980s as a keyboard player for a local band named “We want no compromises”. Indeed, throughout her life, she was never willing to make any compromise when it came to her professional or personal integrity.
Danica began her very successful studies of Medicine in 1981 followed immediately by her Ph.D. studies that she pursued in parallel with her clinical residency activities. In 1988 she became the youngest Ph.D. holder in former Yugoslavia, a country of some 23 million souls.
Danica began her North American scientific career in 1991 by successfully completing a two-year postdoctoral stunt at NIH in Bethesda, MD. Her work didn’t get unnoticed by the NRC management and, in the summer of 1993, Danica and her husband Dusan moved North to Ottawa where she would spend over 30 years with the NRC until her untimely departure this past Wednesday.
During her 31 year tenure with the National Research Council in Ottawa, she achieved everything that can be reasonably expected of a human being. At the time of her premature death she was the Director of the NRC’s Translational Bioscience Department where she has led strategic NRC Programs and served on Scientific Advisory Boards of many biopharma companies and numerous international R&D initiatives. Danica was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. The Government of Canada recognized her achievements by awarding her the Public Service Award of Excellence in 2023. Danica has authored over 170 manuscripts and holds 22 patents in the field of integrative neuroscience.
While, without a shadow of a doubt, a top notch neuroscientist and a leader, Danica was foremost an exceptional human being. Shy and modest beyond reasonable, Danica would avoid bringing up any of her professional achievements as topics of conversation. It was art, gardening and travels that she enjoyed to chat about. Unconditionally devoted to her husband Dusan, Danica was respected for her intelligence and wisdom and truly loved, by anyone who knew her, for the largesse of her pristine soul.
She was predeceased by her parents Emilija and Branislav. Danica is survived by her husband of 32 years, Dušan Đurić, and her younger brother Dušan Stanimirović (Svjetlana). Danica was the proud aunt of Uroš and Luka.
Visitation will be held at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre, 280 Beechwood Avenue, Ottawa, on Tuesday, January 30, 2024 at 2PM. A Memorial Service will follow in the Sacred Space at 3:00PM, followed by a reception. For those not able to attend the Service in person, the Service will be Live Streamed - you may register here.
Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Danica Stanimirović Memorial Fund.
Digital Guestbook
Feng Ni
Francesca Bosetti
A real loss for the scientific community. My deepest condolences to the family.
Ewa Baumann
Dear Dušan and Family,
My heart is broken and I can't even imagine how broken is your heart.
I hope all of these beautiful and warm words about Dana will bring you a spark of light and a little bit of comfort.
I have known Dana for 20 some years and she has been always so devoted to science especially Blood Brain Barrier field, supportive and thinking ahead for all of us. She was a brilliant scientist, beyond special human and so talented in so many ways as we can see it in her art.
It has been such an honor and privilege to work for her as a boss and beside her as a fellow scientist. I will miss her dearly, our chit chats spanning from what's going on in the lab, experiments but also about our families and our hobbies like gardening and art.
Dana was a real rock for us, the voice of reason, tremendous moral support and real human touch. We are going to miss her being by our side, her memory will prevail and will be eternal.
Rest in peace Dana and look upon us from high heavens.
Ewa, Artur, Klaudia and Kamila Baumann
Eric Shusta
I offer my sincere condolences to Dana's family and friends. Dana was an inspiration to me as I started my career and she offered me great support throughout our often intersecting scientific endeavors. She similarly impacted several generations of researchers in the blood-brain barrier field. We will miss her greatly.
The-Minh Tu
Brilliant neuroscientist and exceptional human being. Danica will be missed by the scientific community here and abroad… deepest condolences to all and especially to her loved ones.
Monique Stins
I am very sad to hear of the untimely passing of Danica.
My sincere condolences to the family.
This is also a great loss for the blood brain barrier community.
She will be fondly remembered.
Christophe Py
Sincere condolences to Dana's family. As an NRC colleague I remember with gratitiude her support for our interdisciplinary work on neurochips; I admired her ability to keep leading scientific research while being a full-time manager; and I will miss her thoughtful engagements in the bettement of the organisation.
Sabina Giuseppin
I am so sorry to hear of Danica’s passing. I had the honour of working in her lab years ago. She was such an intelligent woman, a true inspiration for everyone. I offer my most sincere condolences to her family and friends.
Marijana Jovanovic
I am shocked and deeply saddened by Dana’s untimely passing. She was more than a family friend to me, I considered her a mentor and like an aunt. She supported me immensely on my journey to applying to medical school and played a large role in my overall career success. Dana guided others with an exceptional amount of softness and gentleness. Her humility was remarkable. She had a generous heart and a beautiful artistic soul. She will be deeply missed. My deepest condolences to her loving husband Dusan and the rest of her family and friends. Rest in power our beautiful, extraordinary Danica.
Felicity Stark
My deepest condolences to Danica’s family. Danica has been instrumental in the lives and careers of so many at NRC, it’s hard to imagine the way forward without her. I’ll always remember her thoughtfulness, her calm demeanor and the way she could put people at ease. She will be missed dearly.
I am shocked beyond words when learned of Danica's untimely passing last Thursday. My sincere condolences to Danica's family and to all at HHT, NRC and the community for the loss of a passionate researcher, colleague, leader and a genuine human being.
Beyond these written words, I need to relate to a few images that constantly appear during the last week:
- Passionate researcher: around 2013 in Japan, Danica and I shared a cab ride to the Riken Yokohama Institute when I marveled at her medical knowledge and her enthusiasm for Genome Sciences Research at NRC.
- Empathic colleague and collaborator: during many of my trips to M54/Montreal Road 2015-2019, Danica always found time to chat about my own research (in protein structure, function and molecular design) as well as our collaborative work on the strucure of brain-targeting antibodies.
- Motivating leader: Sitting side-by-side at a dinner with Biogen and NRC researchers near Washington DC (AAPS BBB Meeting), Danica was a master at orchestrating professional contacts across institutions.
-Lasting legacy: In the cafeteria here at Montreal Royalmount, Danica was getting a cup of coffee (before going to Renald Gilbert's retirement party) when I came up. She quickly exchanged a few words about bright the future will be given our accomplishments......
Rest in peace, Danica, and I am sure you will watch for us from high up there......Feng