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
arumugam muruganandam
April Luong
I will remember Dana as a strong woman leader, a trailblazer, a beautiful soul and a role model. She will be greatly missed. My sincere condolences to the family, friends and NRC colleagues.
Joe
With so many attestations about Dana's personal and professional impact on so many of us, I thought I'd provide a few somewhat more whimsical reflections.
For many of us, we've listened to more presentations by Dana than anyone else. She was clear, organized, and a master of powerpoint, with her slides always displaying an undercurrent of her artistic skill.
In many meetings, Dana, wearing her management hat, would emphasize the need for us to focus. Yet, it seemed that her scientific passion often won out as the meeting progressed, inviting more questions than answers in our projects.
If anyone need a 3D Outlook calendar, it was Dana, with so many competing demands on her time. Dana played a leading role in so many activities: all of us simply couldn't believe how she fit everything in.
A life lived to the absolute maximum (and beyond).
Margareta Hammarlund-Udenaes
Danica was a remarkable person. It is a great loss for our whole scientific community that she is no longer with us. We interacted at several occasions at conferences, the last one being the Cerebrovascular Biology in my home town Uppsala in June 2023. She was also the faculty opponent of one of my PhD students. So wise, so knowlegeable, such a wonderful person! I mourne with Dushan and will always keep her in bright memories.
Ingolf Blasig and Reiner Haseloff
Our most heartfelt condolences go out to Dusan and Dana's family. We are shocked by the sudden loss. It was a privilege to work with Dana, and we were deeply impressed by her scientific excellence and her artistic talent. A friend is gone, we will miss her and her inspiration.
Llynne Plante
Danica was truly an amazing individual. A great loss to not only her family but to Canada and the world.
I was deeply saddened to learn of Dana's unexpected departure from this world. Our heartfelt condolences go out to her friends, family, and colleagues. Dana was an outstanding scientist and an exceptional individual who made invaluable contributions to the field of the Blood-Brain Barrier. Those who had the privilege of interacting with her, both personally and professionally, will always remember her. May her soul rest in peace, and may her husband and other close family members find strength to overcome this profound loss.