PN Monthly seminar : Stephan Angeloff Institute, on the stage of health, pharmacy and ecology

Описание: PN Monthly seminar (Thursday, May 15th, 2025 11:00 am CET.): Stephan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology on the stage of health, pharmacy and ecology

Abtract:
The Stephan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology conducts research in areas critical to societal needs, particularly addressing national and global challenges in health and climate change. The research priorities in 2024 are focusing on: identifying food microbial contamination to ensure food safety; understanding and finding solutions for antibiotic resistance and biofilm formation; developing strategies for soil pollution remediation using microorganisms and exploring sustainable anaerobic systems for efficient energy production, contributing to clean energy solutions; studying the impact of climate change on microbial diversity, providing insights into environmental changes; finding solutions for maintaining a healthy microbiome; identifying new plant-derived compounds with antiviral and antibacterial activity and offering potential for new therapeutic agents in cancer, infectious and autoimmune diseases, obesity and aging; designing novel vaccines against infectious diseases; studying the biology of viruses and novel antiviral therapies; conducting research in mycology, including the search for antifungal agents and the role of fungi in waste degradation. Despite the multiple and diverse research, a potential weakness of the Stephan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology is the limited income generated from international and industry collaborations making the Institute more vulnerable to changes in national science policy and funding priorities compared to institutions with a more diversified funding portfolio. Thus, the Stephan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology would like to engage actively in the international collaborations and networking within the Pasteur Network. In addition, the Institute is looking for support in integrating good practices for research integrity, ethical issue and digitalization from other members of the Pasteur Network in order to optimize its recourses and infrastructure.
The speaker
Associate Professor Petya Asenova Dimitrova is the Pasteur Network focal point at the Stephan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology since 2022. She graduated from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" with a major in Molecular Biology, focusing her diploma thesis on immunology and virology. Since 2010, she has been an Associate Professor in Immunology, conducting research in rheumatology and therapeutic strategies to suppress chronic inflammation in joint damage and degeneration. Her recent work centers on innate immunity and neutrophils in joint pathologies and inflammation. In 2017, she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to conduct research at the Mayo Clinic’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery under Prof. Jennifer Jane Westendorf. She is a member of several scientific organizations and serves as a reviewer for numerous international journals and funding agencies. Petya Dimitrova has published over 60 papers and holds an H-index of 18.