Davor Želježić earned his Ph.D. in biology in 2013, from the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. He is employed by the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Unity for Mutagenesis.
The focus of his research are plant protection products and biocides on the genome integrity. His research In vitro is aimed to detect genotoxic and aneugenic activity on the primary human lymphocyte cultures and continuous cultures (V79, HepG2). Experiments in vivo comprised application of the different comet assay techniques on different organs of pesticide treated rodents.
Besides, he studied genotoxic effect of occupational exposure to pesticides in different occupationally exposed human populations. He has been a principal researcher on the Croatian Science Foundation Organic Pollutants in Environment – Markers and Biomarkers of Toxicity (OPENTOX No. 8366). Parallel focus of his research is the assessment of biocompatibility of endodontic and orthodontic materials, applied in dental medicine, in gingival cells of voluntary patients in the need of the dental intervention.
He has been appointed by the Ministry of Health to the Member State Committee of European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), He has been the ECHA’s member of the Committee for Risk Assessment. At the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) he is the member of the expert working groups on food enzymes, novel foods, and toxicology.
Presently he is the president of the Croatian branch of the European register of toxicologists (ERT) run by EUROTOX.