Dragana Dragoljevic completed a BBiomedSc at Monash University, and continued her studies at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute completing a PhD (Immunology). Dragana focussed on exploring the relationship between rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and exacerbated atherosclerotic heart disease, which resulted in a publication in the world leading cardiovascular (CV) journal The European Heart Journal. This work demonstrated that CV disease (CVD) in patients with RA is independent to circulating cholesterol levels, yet causes a build-up of intracellular cholesterol, promoting myeloid cell production in stem cells. Subsequently, this work has highlighted an important role of excessive white blood cell production (haematopoiesis) in driving heart disease in the setting of RA.

Dragana is currently a postdoc in the Haematopoiesis and Leukocyte Biology laboratory, continuing her work in how alterations in haematopoiesis drive heightened CVD in inflammatory diseases settings, with a specific focus on the effect of mutated stem cells. Dragana currently holds a National Heart Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship.