Medical University Sofia

Founded in 1917, the Medical University of Sofia (MUS) is the oldest medical institution of higher education in Bulgaria and under the SOCRATES/ERASMUS programme is part of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The mission of MUS is to conduct biomedical and pharmaceutical research and to teach and train students (Bachelors, Masters and PhDs). Currently, the MUS employs 1969 Faculty members and research associates and trains 6155 students, including 1600 international students from 52 countries. The MUS has internationally recognized achievements in development of new therapeutic compounds of synthetic and natural origin, high tech diagnostics of human diseases and treatment of cardiovascular, neurological, and oncological diseases. The Faculty of Pharmacy is one of the four Faculties (campuses) of the MUS. The main areas of expertise at the Faculty of Pharmacy are drug design and development, pharmaceutical technology, pharmacokinetics and drug bioavailability, pharmaceutical chemistry and synthesis, pharmaceutical analysis and toxicology. Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmacy have produced >1,200 high-quality internationally recognized peer-reviewed articles in the field of pharmacology and drug development for the last 6 years. The scientific research activities are funded by grants obtained on a competitive basis by the Bulgarian National Science Fund and the Medical University Research Council. The Faculty of Pharmacy participates in international scientific projects funded by various EU programmes, including H2020 and collaborates and runs joint research projects with universities and research institutes in e.g. Germany, England, France, Italy and Denmark.

Dr. Ivan Dimotrov is Associate Professor in Physical Chemistry and Pharmacokinetics. Expertise: bioinformatics, machine learning methods for immmunogenicity and allergenicity prediction. Dr. Ivan Dimitrov will be the primary supervisor of DC1 and will be involved in training and research activities.

Professor in Physical Chemistry and Pharmacokinetics. Expertise: drug design and bioinformatics, statistical methods for immunogenicity, and allergenicity prediction. Dr. Doytchinova will be involved in training and research activities. 

Assistant Professor in Physical Chemistry and Pharmacokinetics. Expertise: drug design and bioinformatics, docking-based methods for immunogenicity, and allergenicity prediction. Dr. Atanasova will be involved in training and research activities.

Nida Ansari is from Sahiwal, Pakistan. Currently, She is employed as a Doctoral Candidate 1 (DC1) in the Drug Design and Bioinformatics Lab at the Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria. She earned her bachelor's in Bioinformatics from COMSATS University, Pakistan, and her master's in Bioinformatics from Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan. In her previous academic research background, she was responsible for the development of Bioinformatics tools that include the prediction of conserved short segments in protein structure, the determination of an optimum ligand for docking, and the development of a smart platform by applying the Al that allows AutoDock Vina to perform its task in an automated way. In the ALLPreT project, her main focus as a DC1 is the development of in-silico models for the assessment of the allergenic potential of food proteins. These in-silico models include the modeling of endo-lysosomal cleavage and the modeling of MHC class-II binding. During her Ph.D., she will do one secondment at Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. USA, for 6 months, to learn how to work with advanced biostatistics tools and models for the risk assessment of genetically modified proteins within a scientific commercial environment.