Sijana Dzinic, Ph.D., center, with fellow Wayne State faculty members Shijie Sheng, Ph.D., left, and Ramzi Mohammad, Ph.D., who joined her at the 30th anniversary commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide, an event held last June in Detroit.
A Wayne State University School of Medicine Oncology researcher has been recognized nationally for her role in providing health care to the Bosnian-American community through free health fairs, educational lectures and more in the metropolitan Detroit area.
The Lilies of Hope Foundation honored Assistant Professor of Oncology Sijana Dzinic, Ph.D., with the Lilies Award at the nonprofit organization’s gala last November in Chicago.
The fundraising event was held in partnership with Heart for Children Battling Cancer in Bosnia to provide critical medical equipment for hospitals and pediatric units that lack the tools needed to properly diagnose and treat children battling cancer.
Dr. Dzinic attends the Lilies of Hope Foundation gala with her husband Adi.
The event brought together prominent leaders, medical professionals, scientists, entrepreneurs and other distinguished guests from Chicago and across the United States and Bosnia.
“The mission of this event was to unite the hearts across the borders to give every child a fighting chance. I was recognized as the first woman scientist and a cancer researcher from the Bosnian-American community to receive this award,” Dr. Dzinic said, adding that she was “totally surprised” by the honor.
“When you do community work, you do it with your whole heart, and the greatest reward is seeing the impact it has on the people you serve. So, to be recognized on top of that was truly amazing and very humbling,” she added.
Dr. Dzinic came to the United States in 1996 as a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina, determined to rebuild her life through education and service.
“I was born and raised in a small northwestern city in Bosnia, and as a young girl I never imagined coming to America and becoming a scientist,” she said. “But I always knew one thing: I had a deep passion for helping people and a love and curiosity for science. To me, opportunity has always meant hard work, and I worked hard to become who I am today, a proud Bosnian-American scientist and cancer researcher.”
Dr. Dzinic earned her doctorate in Physiology from the WSU School of Medicine in 2008 and has devoted her scientific career to advancing cancer research, in large part because many of her close family and community members have been diagnosed with the disease.
“She has been selflessly supporting the health care needs of her refugee community in the metro Detroit area,” said Professor of Pathology Shijie Sheng, Ph.D., in whose lab Dr. Dzinic completed her postdoctoral training. “She’s a refugee. She built everything with her own bare hands, with her husband.”
Dr. Dzinic organized and moderated this panel discussion on The Status and Challenges of Women in the Family and Society, held at the Bosnian American Community Center in 2024.
In addition to her role at WSU, Dr. Dzinic is associate director of the Preclinical and Therapeutic Development Core at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. Her research focuses on preclinical models and therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment.
“Wayne State truly feels like my second home. I completed my undergraduate studies here, earned my doctoral degree in Physiology, and continued on to my postdoctoral training in the Department of Pathology,” she said. “Now, as a faculty member in Oncology, it feels as if I’ve spent my entire life at Wayne State, and in many ways, I have. Wayne State is an exceptional community of students, staff and faculty. I know this because, at different stages of my life, I have belonged to each of these groups and each one has shaped me in so many meaningful ways.”
She has written or co-written nearly 50 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts, contributing significantly to the field of oncology. Throughout her academic career, she has mentored more than 40 students and fellows, many of Bosnian heritage, and helped them advance into successful careers as medical doctors, scientists and engineers.
Beyond her scientific contributions, Dr. Dzinic is engaged in community service and professional development. She is an editor and reviewer for Biomolecules and Biomedicine (formerly Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences), the only Bosnian scientific journal indexed in leading international databases.
Dr. Dzinic is an active member of the local Bosnian community, serving as first president of Bosnian American Medical Professionals, the first Bosnian medical nonprofit in the U.S. Through her leadership, BAMP united more than 100 professionals from various fields in medicine and science, organized free community health fairs, and gained recognition in both American and Bosnian media. She has organized and moderated numerous free educational seminars, addressing issues such as drug addiction, mental health, women’s empowerment, and cancer prevention and intervention. Her commitment to public health extends internationally through webinars on malignant diseases that reached audiences across the U.S., Europe and Australia.
Dr. Dzinic also is a member of the International Expert Team for Genocide Research at the Institute for Genocide Research in Canada. She is a passionate advocate for genocide awareness and remembrance, particularly the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. She played a pivotal role in obtaining multiple state-level proclamations in Michigan recognizing July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day and served as the chair of the 30th Anniversary Commemoration of Srebrenica, held in Detroit last June.
“I am still learning from her and her community. She wanted to uplift anyone from that community who was trying to build up from ashes,” Dr. Sheng said. “Without Sijana, I could have never really known there was such a need.”
That included bringing younger Bosnian-American students, both high schoolers and undergraduates interested in science, into Dr. Sheng’s lab throughout the years.
‘I opened my lab to them. They came one after another, all hardworking,” Dr. Sheng added. “All the kids who have gone through my lab are now all in health care professional roles more than 10 years later.”
Throughout her career and community work, Dr. Dzinic has remained devoted to educating youth—not only in academics but also in cultural awareness, history and preservation of Bosnian heritage and identity.
“One outstanding quality of Sijana is she is very disciplined. She is a great educator. This is really an exceptional individual. Her personal virtue is outstanding,” Dr. Sheng said. “A person with such integrity. She won my heart, and can you imagine how many hearts she has won in her community?”