The Department of Life Sciences

Qualifications

• PhD in Biochemistry, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences (WIAS), Wageningen University, The Netherlands
• MSc in Ecology and Environment, Sikkim Manipal University, New Delhi, India
• MSc in Biotechnology, major: Genetic and Cellular Engineering, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria

Fellowships and Training

• Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (2016 – 2017)
• Visiting researcher – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria (July/August 2017, July/August 2019)
• Visiting researcher – Department of Cell Biology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), Riyadh, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (June 2015, July 2018)
• Visiting researcher - Diabetes Research Group, SAAD Centre for Pharmacy and Diabetes School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine, N Ireland, UK (October 2014, May 2016, October 2016, May 2017, October 2018, November 2019)
• Postdoctoral fellow - Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences UAE University, Al Ain, UAE (2013 -2014)
• Postdoctoral fellow - Virology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, India (2000-2003)
• UNESCO-MCBN Fellowship, Trainee in Molecular Virology - Hadassah Medical School, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel (3 months, 1999)
• Trainee in Molecular Virology - Institute of Molecular Biology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Salzburg, Austria (3 months, 1998)
• Scholarship recipient, Virology – Laboratory of Virology, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” (1994 – 1998)

Research Interests

• Innate immunity and infections: role of naturally-occurring peptides
• Biological activity of novel compounds and development of therapeutic agents
• Interfaces between ecology and virology
• Amphibians: response to infections and climate change; natural and laboratory-induced hybridization between frog species

Honours and Awards

• Special recognition for an oral presentation, STARS Conference Antimicrobial Drug Discovery, Madrid, Spain (2013)
• Best Poster Award, International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ICEID), Al Ain, UAE (2005)

Professional Memberships

• Union of Bulgarian Scientists, Section: “Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology”
• European Peptide Society

UWI Service

• Campus Ethics Committee, Representative for the Faculty of Science and Technology (2017 – present)
• Graduate Studies, Research and Innovation Faculty Committee, Representative for the Department of Life Sciences (2018 –present)
• Co-Coordinator for the Department of Life Sciences Post Graduate Students Thursday Seminars (2018 – present)

Public Service

• Reviewer for various journals – Peptides (Outstanding Contributor in Reviewing in 2017), Toxicon (Outstanding Contributor in Reviewing in 2017), Biomed Research International, Tropical Agriculture, Acta Biochimica Slovenica, PeerJ, 3Biotech, Future Medicinal Chemistry, MDPI Journal, The Protein Journal.

Courses Taught

• ESST1001 Biology for Environmental Sciences (UG, Year I, semester 1, 2018 – 2020) (Lecturer)
• BIOL2360 Biochemistry IIA (UG, year II, semester 1, 2017 – present) (Lecturer)
• BIOC2161 Primary Metabolism (UG, year II, semester 1, 2019 – present) (Lecturer and Course Coordinator)
• BIOC3062 Cellular and Molecular Defence Systems (UG, year III, semester 1, 2016 – present) (Lecturer and Course Coordinator)
• BIOC3262 Medical Biochemistry (UG, year III, semester 2, 2016 -present) (Lecturer and Course Coordinator)
• BIOC3364 Biochemical Basis of Disease (UG, year III, semester 2, 2019 – present) (Lecturer)
• BIOC3500 Molecular Virology (UG, year III, semester II, 2015 – 2018) (Lecturer)
• BIOT6003 Biotechnology and Health (MSc, semester 1, 2016 – present) (Lecturer)
• BIOT6004 Immunotechnology and Molecular Therapies and Diagnostics (MSc, semester 2, 2016 – present) (Lecturer and Course Coordinator)

Grants

• Campus Research & Publication Fund, The UWI (2017 – 2018) (Principal Investigator)
• Campus Research & Publication Fund, The UWI (2018 – present) (Principal Investigator)
• RDI grant, The UWI (2019 – present) (Member)
• Bulgarian National Science Fund, Bulgaria (2020 - present) (Co-PI, Leader of a Work Package)

International Collaborations

• Northern Ireland (UK), France, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Austria, Italy, USA, Canada, South Africa, Bulgaria, Serbia, The Netherlands, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)