Samira Smajlović was born in 1994 in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. After completing primary school, she enrolled at the Turkish-Bosnian College in Sarajevo, graduating in 2012, and then studied at the Department of Genetics and Bioengineering at the International Burch University, where she earned her Master’s degree in 2017, developing a strong foundation in molecular biology, genetics, and laboratory research. She continued her education at the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Department of Biology, Division of Molecular Biology, enrolling in a PhD program and working as an Early Stage Researcher within the HORIZON 2020 Marie Curie ITN IMforFUTURE project (2018–2021), working in the fields of epigenetics and glycobiology. She attended training courses in England, Scotland, and the Netherlands, and completed a one-month placement at Roche GmbH (Penzberg), Germany. Upon returning to BiH, she was employed as a molecular biologist at the Institute for Laboratory Diagnostics Dr. Dedić in Bihać, focusing on diagnostics and research of infectious and hereditary diseases. She further enhanced her expertise through a ten-day summer school in Portugal in 2021 and a research visit to the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology in Ljubljana in 2022, as a young member of ESCMID. She was awarded an attendance grant for ESCMID Global in Stockholm, 2027, for her work in molecular diagnostics of infectious diseases. In February 2026, she gained further experience during a visit to the Department of Genetics at the Wunschbaby Institut Feichtinger in Vienna, which was part of her latest research on genetic markers associated with thrombophilia in pregnancy. She is an active member of the MCAA and has been engaged in science communication and popularisation in BIH and the region since 2023. Since 2024, she has worked as a project assistant on the MEDNIGHT project (MSCA), participating in events across Croatia, Italy, and Belgium.