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
Stela and Bogdan Zurakowski
Yonghong Guan
My deepest condolences to her family.
Sungwon An
I still cannot believe that it's time to say goodbye to Dana, my great mentor and friend. She has been very gentle and supportive, never hesitating to give a hand to anyone needing help. It was such an honor to get to know her, discuss science with her face-to-face or via online during my career in industry. My deep condolences to her family, friends, and NRC members.
Ursula Boschert
My sincere condolences to the family and friends of Dana, whom I had the opportunity to meet at various BBB meetings when we were young - I always will remember her kindness, immense knowledge and passion for science. She was an exceptional person and we will miss her and her memory will stay for ever in our hearts.
Vera Djelic
Dana was my friend and I am going to miss her. She was the most modest and humble person I know. It was never about her, it was always about others. She was giving, unselfishly giving. She was smart and capable from her very important work at NRC to her art. She did both passionately but quietly and with grace. Rest in peace my friend.
Claudie Charlebois
Sincere condolences to Dana's family and friends.
She will be truly missed... and will never be forgotten!
Marianna Sikorska Walker
I always knew that you never look properly after yourself. Everybody and everything was always a priority with you, but never yourself. I will have few words to say to you when we meet again.
Danusiu kochana, I remember like yesterday when we first met. It was 1993 in Miami during the International Stroke Congress. As it turns out we shared some connections, we both were mentored by dr. Maria Spatz research associates, I in Warsaw by prof. Mosakowski and you in Belgrade. Since at that time there weren't too many neurosciences around we all knew each other and the only model for neuro experimental research were brain ischemia models used in our PHD dissertations. I knew Maria very well, she was a good friend visiting us in Warsaw often. Maria introduced us and asked me whether I could help to find a position for a young and brilliant scientist whom she cannot keep in her lab because of a very restricted US government policy towards Serbian people. As fate would have it I knew that John Durkin had an unfilled RA position, so I introduced them. And the rest is history... A couple of months later Dana and Dusan packed their belongings and arrived in Ottawa. From then we were professional colleagues and friends. I deeply respect your scientific curiosity, your versatility and amazing drive. Over the years I enjoyed your support and friendship. We celebrated many occasions.Through you and Dusan I met several wonderful Serbian community members and enjoyed their fun and music and loving spirits/ personalities.
Danuniu kochana, I know hard we'll have to find our further ways without you but I am also sure that you will look over us from above where you'll find your rightful place amongst the angels. Rest in peace my friend and I thank you for being a part of my life.
Michel Gilbert
I will always be grateful to Danica for her support and guidance through my career. She was always enthusiastic and pleasant to work with. My deepest condolences to the family.
Bernard Massie
I’m shocked and saddened by the new of the sudden passing away of a dear former collegue. I’m also so sorry to have missed the opportunity to reconnect with her since my departure from the NRC.
Danica was, by a long shot, the best scientific researcher I had the privilege to collaborate with at the NRC. And her scientific excellence was on par with her leadership and human touch. I will deeply miss her, but I’m comforted by the believe that someday we will get to see each other again in eternity. See you there my friend. May your luminous spirit hover over us and continue to inspire us. Bernard
Debbie Callaghan and Michel Menard
An amazing lady and mentor to all who had the pleasure of having Danica in their life. Heartbroken.
Dusan
We are so sorry for your loss.
Our hearts break for you.