During an official visit to Croatia, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne visited MedILS (Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences) and offered her support for the achievements brought about by the Institute to not only Split, but to Croatia as a whole.

Princess Anne was led through the institute by Dr. Bojan Žagrović, director of the laboratory for computational biophysics. The various achievements of the tumor biology and computational biophysics laboratories were presented by scientists and students from diverse scientific and cultural backgrounds.

Princess Anne met with Dr. Marija Alačević, a co-founder of MedILS, and Branko Roglić, president of MedILS Board of Directors. In the grand hall of MedILS, the Princess greeted a crowd of approximately 30 scientists, donors, and staff, who thanked her for her visit and support.

“The visit from Princess Anne had a major significance for MedILS, whereby HRH Princess Anne recognized MedILS as an emerging center of scientific excellence. As part of her visit, we were given the opportunity to present our research results thus far, our ways of funding, and the future developmental plans. The expressed interest of Princess Anne for basic science showcases the importance and the significance of science in contemporary society,” stressed Dr. Bojan Žagrović, the director of the laboratory for computational biophysics.

The gastronomical delights offered at MedILS during the Princess’ visit were comprised of delicacies of the Mediterranean cuisine – fruits, domestic wine, prosciutto, cheese, lightly baked shellfish with shrimp, soparnik (flatbread stuffed with swiss chard, olive oil, and garlic), homemade cake, etc.

At the conclusion of her visit, MedILS staff presented Princess Anne with a traditional Split cake – a Diocletian’s Crown (homemade by a local Split family). As a side note, Diocletian was a Roman emperor born around 300 A.D., who built a palace that still stands, in what is known today as the city of Split. This special cake is prepared from local produce (figs, almonds, carob, honey, fruits, etc.) and made in much the same way as in the time of the emperor Diocletian. The cake is entirely the product of the local peasants, and its preparation centers around homemade olive oil.

For additional information, please contact us at medils@medils.hr or +385 (0)21-555-600.

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