Rajko Igić (born 1937) is a Serbian doctor, scientist, and writer. He is best known for discovery of angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) in the retina, publications on the influence of the war in Yugoslavia on publishing in peer reviewed journals, poetry works, and his anti-tobacco movement in the Former Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Republic of Srpska. Igić is a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republic of Srpska. He received his

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

and Ph.D. at the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...

. He was a Professor of Pharmacology at the

University of Tuzla University of Tuzla ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Univerzitet u Tuzli, Универзитет у Тузли) is a public university located in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The university was founded in 1958. It became a proper university in 1976, and today ...

(1978-1992), and the Director of the Department of Scientific, Cultural, and Educational International Exchange for the Republic of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

from 1990 to 1992, when he left at the start of the

War in Bosnia and Herzegovina The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incidents, the war is commonly seen as ha ...

. His research career centered on the

Renin–angiotensin system The renin–angiotensin system (RAS), or renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS), is a hormone system that regulates blood pressure, fluid, and electrolyte balance, and systemic vascular resistance. When renal blood flow is reduced, ...

. While at the Universities of Tuzla and Banja Luka in the 1980s, Igić organized an early anti-smoking campaign aimed at the territories of former Yugoslavia. Igić served as the Editor-in-Chief of a Scripta Medica (Banja Luka), a medical journal, from 2010-2013. He also devised a new script, Slavica, a fused version of the (

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

and

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...

), used by speakers of the predominant South Slavic languages (

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

). It was a quixotic attempt to mend the linguistic divisions among the Yugoslav ethnic groups, prior to outbreak of widespread conflict. Igić writes poetry, and he published several poetry books in English and Serbian. He currently resides in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, where he was, until retirement, a senior scientist in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at

Cook County Hospital The John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County (shortened ''Stroger Hospital'', formerly Cook County Hospital) is a public hospital in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is part of Cook County Health, along with Provident Hospital of Cook Cou ...

Work

Medical books

*Igić R. Osnovi gerijatrije, drugo izdanje. Banjaluka, Medicinski fakultet, 2020. *Igić R. Osnovi farmakografije. Sarajevo, Svjetlost, 1978. **''Kako se pišu saopštenja o medicinskim istraživanjima''. Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1980. **''(with Ranko Škrbić) Kako se pišu i publikuju saopštenja o biomedicinskim istraživanjima''. Banja Luka:Grafomark, 2012. *Igić R, et al. Naučna istraživanja i naučna saopštenja. Banjaluka, Medicinski fakultet, 2017. *Igić R. Osnovi gerijatrije. Sombor, Fondacija, 2019. *Igić R. Osnovi gerijatrije, drugo izdanje. Banjaluka, Medicinski fakultet, 2020. **''Farmakologija renin-angiotenzin sistema''. Banja Luka, Medicinski fakultet, 2014.

On Renin-Angiotensin and Kallikrein-Kinin systems

*Igić R, Erdos EG, Yeh HS, Sorells K, Nakajima T. Angiotensin I converting enzyme of the lung. Circ Res 1972;30-31:51-61. *Igić R, Robinson CJG, Erdos EG. Angiotensin I converting enzyme in the choroid plexus and in the retina. Sixth International Congress of Pharmacology. Helsinki, 1975, Abstract 408. *Igic R, Robinson CJG, Erdos EG. Angiotensin I converting enzyme activity in the choroid plexus and in the retinal. In: Buckley JP, Ferrario CM, eds. Central actions of angiotensin and related hormones. New York: Pergamon Press, 1977: 23-7. *Igić R., Robinson CJG, Milošević Ž, Wilson C, Erdos EG. Activity of renin and angiotensin converting enzyme in retina and ciliary body. (In Serbo-croatian). Liječ Vjes 1977;99:482-4. *Ward PE, Stewart TA, Hammon KJ, Reynolds RC, *Igić R. Angiotensin I converting enzyme (kininase II) in isolated retinal microvessels. Life Sci 1979;24:1419-24. *Igić R, Kojović V. Angiotensin I converting enzyme (kininase II) in ocular tissues. Exp Eye Res 1980;30:299-303. *Igić R. Kallikrein and kininases in ocular tissues. Exp Eye Res 1985;41:117-120. *Igić R, Wania-Galicia L, Jackman LH. Metabolism of angiotensin I by guinea pig aqueous humor. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 2001;79:627-30. *Igić R, Behnia R. Properties and distribution of angiotensin I converting enzyme. *Curr Pharm Des 2003;9:697-706. *Škrbić R, *Igić R. Seven decades of angiotensin (1939-2009). Peptides 2009;30:1945-50. *Igić R, Škrbić R. The renin-angiotensin system and its blockers. Srp Arh Celok Lek 2014;142:756-63. *Sokolova-Djokic L, Zizic-Borjanovic S, Igic R. Cigarette smoking in Serbia. Impact of the 78-day NATO bombing campaign. J BUON 2008;13(2):285-9. *Igić R. Can outstanding research be done under less than ideal conditions? Einstein J Biol Med 2003;20:23-27. *Igić R. Remembrances of Ulf Svante von Euler. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2018 Nov;224(3):e13098. doi: 10.1111/apha.13098. *Igić R. Four decades of ocular renin-angiotensin and kallikrein-kinin systems (1977-2017). Exp Eye Res 2018;166:74-83. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2017.05.007. *The renin-angiotensin system and its blockers. *Igić R, Škrbić R. Srp Arh Celok Lek. 2014 Nov-Dec;142(11-12):756-63. doi: 10.2298/sarh1412756i. *Igić R. An exploration of bioactive peptides: My collaboration with Ervin G. Erdös. *J Biol Chem. 2018 May 25;293(21):7907-7915. doi: 10.1074/jbc.X118.003433.

Other writings

*Igić R. ''Nova slovarica''. Tuzla, Univerzal, 1987. *Igić R. Why not test reading in three alphabets. ''American Psychologist'' 1999;54:1130-2. *The Destiny of Germans in St. Ivan and Other Writings. .

Poetry

Лази Костићу из Чикага. o Laza Kostić from Chicago.Banjaluka, Besjeda, 2017. Која је сврха живота. hat is the purpose of life.Banjaluka, GrafoMark, 2020. *Eleven Poems and One Story. . *Come, Live in This World! *Pictures from Serbia: My Gypsy Neighbors.

References

"Amid War, Scientific Publication Survives In Former Yugoslav Republics"
'' The Scientist'' 1997, 11(1):11 {{DEFAULTSORT:Igic, Rajko 1937 births Living people Serbian scientists Scientists from Chicago Creators of writing systems University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine alumni