Prof. Ivanka Tsakovska, PhD | CV | Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Qualification

2004 – PhD Degree, PhD thesis “Quantitative structure – activity relationships of selected classes of bioactive compounds” Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
1995 – MS Degree in Chemical Engineering, University of Chemical Engineering, Sofia, Bulgaria
1990 – Secondary school/National School of Natural Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

2023 – now: Head of “QSAR and Molecular Modelling” Department, Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia
2020 – now: Professor: Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia (procedure)
2010 – 2020: Associate Professor: Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia
2009 – Associate Professor: Centre of Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia
2007–2009: Research Associate: Centre of Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia
2006–2007: Contractual Agent: Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy
2005: Postdoc: Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy
2003–2005: Research Associate: Centre of Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia
1998–2002: PhD student: Centre of Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia
1996–1997: Engineer: Centre of Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia

Development and application of structure- and ligand based methods (including QSAR) to in silico drug design and assessment of risk of chemical substances to human health and environment;
Cancer multidrug resistance (MDR) – mechanisms and modulation;
ABC transporters and nuclear receptors – interactions with ligands and structure-function relationships;
Bioactive compounds of natural origin;
Computational toxicology; Regulatory use of computational toxicology tools

Training Program “DEREK for Windows and Meteor” – Organizer Lhasa Limited, Ispra, Italy (February, 2007)
Training Workshop “US EPA Sustainable Futures/P2 Framework Training Workshop” – Organizer US EPA, Risk Assessment Division, Brussels, Belgium (October, 2006)
Training session “Protein Modeling for New Modelers” – Organizer TRIPOS Sarl., Paris, France (May, 2006)
European Summer School “Pharmacology of new anticancer drugs” – Organizer Universite Victor Segalen, Institut Bergonie, Bordeaux, France (July, 2002)
Training Course on Molecular Design and Computer Assisted Combinatorial Chemistry – International Center for Science and High Technology (ICS), Trieste, Italy (July, 2002).

Department of Pharmacy, University of Bonn, Germany
Research Fellow of Foundation “Alexander von Humboldt”, Stability pact program
Project title: “Study of mechanism of action of cancer multidrug resistance modulators using pharmacological tests in vitro and molecular modelling” (September, 2001 – February, 2002)
Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy, Postdoctoral Researcher position and Contractual Agent position in Computational Toxicology Action of the European Chemicals Bureau (June, 2005-September, 2007)

More than 50 research papers, review articles and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals;
550 citations, h-index 10
Participant in more than 100 international scientific forums
Supervisor of Diploma and PhD students
2008-current: Lecturer on “Molecular modelling and QSAR” in the Master Program on Computational Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University

Ad hoc reviewer of more than 10 scientific journals “SAR and QSAR in Environmental Research”, “Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling”, “Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry”, “Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry”, “Molecular Informatics”, “Computational Molecular Bioscience”, “Bioautomation”, “Molecules”, “Chemical Research in Toxicology”, etc.
Reviewer of project proposals of EU-funded programmes, Bulgarian National Science Fund, Plovdiv University Paisii Hilendarski
Expert contribution to the Technical Committee for New and Existing Substances (2006-2007)
Participation in the EU (Q)SAR Working Group, European Chemicals Bureau, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy (2006–2007)
Member of the Expert Council for assessment of priority substances, Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria (2015-current)
Member of the General Assembly of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (2016-current)
Member of the Scientific Board of the Institute of Biophysics and of Biomedical Engineering (2016- current)

2018-current: Substitute-member of the Management Committee of COST Action „New diagnostic and therapeutic tools against multidrug resistant tumors“
2015-2019: Substitute-member of the Management Committee of COST Action CM1407 “Challenging organic syntheses inspired by nature – from natural products chemistry to drug discovery”
2017-2019: coordinator of 1 project and member of the teams of 3 projects funded by the National Science Fund, Ministry of Education and Science, Bulgaria and a participant in the National scientific program ”Healthy Foods for a Strong Bio-Economy and Quality of Life”) funded by the Ministry of Education and Science, Bulgaria
2011-2015:Coordinator of the Bulgarian team in the project COSMOS, FP7-HEALTH-2010-Alternative-Testing-Strategies

Award “Evrika” (competition 2004 year) issued by Evrika Foundation and Higher Accreditation Commission for achievements in the science
National Award “Marin Drinov” (competition 2003 year) issued by Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for young scientists (up to 35 years of age) for scientific contributions in the field of modelling of the quantitative relations “structure – activity” of biologically active compounds
Award of the National Science Fund, Ministry of Education and Science, Bulgaria for the best junior project (grant MU-I-8/98) in the competition “Young Scientists”, December 2002
Six co-authored awards for oral and poster presentations at international scientific conferences