Management Committee:
The operational activities of project shall be organised and managed by a Management Committee.
The Management Committee shall be responsible for the organisation and administration of the activities of the Programme, including financial management, monitoring of the Programme implementation, dissemination of results.
The members of the Management Committee shall be guided in their activities by the generally accepted principles of integrity, and managerial and professional competence. The structure and number of the Management Committee shall be determined by the Management of Medical University – Varna.
Members of the Management Committee:
Prof. Diana Ivanova, DSc – Chair of the Management Committee
Prof. Diana Ivanova, DSc – Vice Director of the Research Institute at MU–Varna. Prof. Ivanova is an internationally renowned scientist and lecturer with a profile in the field of Molecular Nutrition and Nutrigenomics.
She initiated the joining of Medical University–Varna to the European Nutrigenomics Organisation (NuGO), and she was a member of the Executive Committee of NuGO for two consecutive terms (2015-2023). She has represented Medical University–Varna in NuGO since the University's admission as its member.
Over the last five years she has been a project manager and participant in more than 20 research projects, both in the framework of the European collaboration in the field of Nutrigenomics and in collaboration with the business.
Winner of academic awards and distinctions for her contribution to the research activities and the recognition of the academic prestige of Medical University–Varna in the Bulgarian and international academic community.
The major areas and sub-areas of Prof. Ivanova's scientific interests are fundamental and applied research in the field of Molecular Nutrition and Nutrigenomics, in support of the implementation of state policies related to Nutrition and Public Health: effects of antioxidants, plant foods, and biologically active substances on metabolic adaptation in humans, cell culture model systems, and experimental animals; relationship between diet, genetic factors, and metabolic disturbances accompanying obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cardiac and vascular diseases.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Natalia Usheva – Vice-Chair of the Management Committee
Head of the Public Health and Disease Management Department at the Research Institute of MU-Varna. Assoc. Prof. Natalia Usheva is a well-established researcher with long-standing experience in the implementation and management of more than 20 research projects at national and international level.
Assoc. Prof. Usheva has been a researcher in the ToyBox projects (2010-2014) under the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission, HORIZON 2020 (Feel4Diabetes, 2015-2019) and principal researcher for Medical University–Varna under the DigiCare4You project (2020-2025).
She holds the positions of Vice–Dean for Science and Research at the Faculty of Public Health and Head of the Department of Social Medicine and Health Organisation.
She has more than 120 scientific publications and 40 participations at scientific congresses and conferences in the fields of Health Promotion and Prevention of Socially Significant Diseases.
Winner of academic awards and distinctions for scientific excellence in Public Health and for participation in projects.
Elitsa Drenska – Member of the Management Committee
Ms. Elitsa Drenska is an expert at the Research Institute of MU-Varna. She holds a Master's degree in Accounting and Control. She has more than 15 years of experience in Project Management. She has been involved in the development and management of projects related to customer satisfaction and sales growth for international and national companies in the banking sector, Telecom, electronics, oil companies, etc.
Since 2012 she has been a part of the Department of International Programmes and Projects at Medical University–Varna. She has participated in the management of numerous projects under international and national programmes such as Human Resources Development OP, Competitiveness OP, the Research Fund, Seventh Framework Programme. Since the establishment of the Research Institute at MU–Varna, Ms. Elitsa Drenska has been a part of its team, developing and managing research projects, both under the Research Fund and directly funded under the European programmes of Horizon 2020.
Ms. Elitsa Drenska has completed trainings on "Project Management", "Development and Management of European Projects", "Interactive Learning Methods", "Intellectual Property Protection", "Quality Management", etc.
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board shall act as an advisory and assessment body for the implementation of the Strategic Research and Innovation Programme within the envisaged two-level management structure.
The Advisory Board shall conduct its activities involving an effective exchange of information with the Management Committee.
Chairperson of the Board will be Prof. Asena Serbezova. She graduated with honours from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University – Sofia in 1996, and defended a dissertation thesis in the field of Social Medicine and Health Organisation and Pharmacy in 2006. She holds a Master's Degree in Health Management and Public Health (Faculty of Public Health, MU – Sofia) and a Master's Degree in Health Policy and Pharmacoeconomics (Barcelona School of Management, Univeristat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain). She completed her Master's Degree in Psychology at Veliko Tarnovo University in 2019.
She has been awarded three specialities: Organisation and Economics of Pharmacy and Distribution Practice, Organisation and Economics of Pharmaceutical Production, and Clinical Pharmacy.
Minister for Health (12.2021-08.2022). Chairperson of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union (02.2020-12.2021). Member of the Health Technology Assessment Committee (2016-2018). Executive Director of the Bulgarian Drug Agency, which is administration to the Minister of Health (2014-2018). Member of the Management Board of the European Medicines Agency (2014-2018). She has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector, holding various positions in the areas of drug authorization, pharmacovigilance, clinical drug trials and health technology assessment.
Auditor of European standards of good practice in the pharmaceutical sector.
Prof. Raanan Shamir is Professor of Pediatrics and the Lea and Arieh Pickel Chair for Pediatric Research at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, and Chairman of the Institute of Gastroenterology, Nutrition and Liver Diseases at Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel. He currently sits on numerous committees, including: Member of the National Council on Gastroenterology, Nutrition and Liver Diseases, Member of the ESPEN (European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism) Advisory Board, Member of the Scientific Committee of the Nutrition and Growth Network, Member of the UEG (United European Gastroenterology) Research Committee. Prof. Shamir is the immediate Past President of ESPGHAN (The European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition). Prof. Shamir has published more than 500 original papers, reviews and comments, book chapters and guidelines in the area of pediatric nutrition, nutrition and growth, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease and childhood hyperlipidaemia.
Dr. Susane Wopreis works at TNO in the systems biology research sector on ‘quantification of health and effects of lifestyle on health’, acting as principal investigator in several public private partnerships focusing on systems health. She is TNO representative for the Nutrigenomics Association (NuGO), member of expert groups on different European and d North America projects and initiatives, including business partnerships. On this topic she has >60 peer reviewed scientific publications (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Suzan_Wopereis/research), with a total H-index of 33. Suzan Wopereis is internationally recognized as an expert in the area of personalized metabolic health, shown by the fact that she was part of the ILSI Europe workgroup on biomarkers and the ILSI USA expert group on personalized nutrition.
Marie-José Tassignon was appointed in 2017 till current as emeritus head and chief of the department of ophthalmology at Antwerp University Hospital and University of Antwerp. She is CEO of the P.E.D Tassignon company for medical expertise in Ophthalmology (2017- current). Marie-José Tassignon is a member of the Royal Belgian Academy of Medicine and an author/co-author of more than 320 papers in peer-reviewed journals and the author of 29 books/book chapters. She is the director of 11 PhD programs and holds 7 patents of which are the bag-in-the-lens intraocular lens and the ring caliper for sizing the anterior capsulorhexis. Both have been commercialized and three more patents were filed in 2021. Prof. Marie-José Tassignon currently takes key international functions in 5 international societies and is Co-editor of two international key Journals: Journal Cataract Refractive Surgery- Ophthalmic Research. She was awarded 14 major international awards/medals.
Prof. Leszek A. Dobrzański works in the field of materials, biomedical and dental engineering, surface engineering, nanotechnology and additive manufacturing and their applications in general and dental medicine. His group's recent developments include: 3D printing of new porous structures from titanium and titanium alloys mimicking the structure of the natural bone; development of nanocoatings to increase osteoblast integration and biocompatibility of implants; creation and research of new dental materials; development of the Dentistry 4.0 strategy by analogy with Industry 4.0 for the organization of prosthetic and implantological treatment in dentistry, based on the innovative materials, methods and technologies. Prof. L.A. Dobzhanski's scientific interests coincide with the priority "Regenerative and Implantation Medicine".
Mr. Kiril Kirilov, Operational Manager-DISCOVERER Petascale Supercomputer BG, Sofia Tech Park AD. He has more than 25 years of international experience in senior management positions in the IT sector, in various industries, including finance, technology and manufacturing in Central and Eastern Europe. Mr. Kirilov is currently the Operational Director of DISCOVERER Petascale Supercomputer in Sofia Tech Park, where he leads and develops an IT team of internal and external experts. Previously, Mr. Kirilov was the Vice President and CIO of Alianz Group in Bulgaria, where he managed a team of more than 60 employees, who developed IT services for the group and maintained four data centres.
Assoc. Prof. Eng. Vasil Galabov, Head of BioInfoTech (Bioinformatics) Laboratory of Sofia Tech Park AD. He is a specialist in automation and medical cybernetics and instrument building, with extensive experience in practical industrial applications of cybernetics in medicine, including in Denmark. The experience and scientific interests of Assoc. Prof. Galabov include areas such as medical instrument manufacturing, automated data processing and analysis, electronics, electrical engineering, innovative pharmaceuticals, biosensors, etc.
Ch. Assist. Prof. Dr. Eng. Boris Kirov, Chief Expert at BioInfoTech (Bioinformatics) Laboratory of Sofia Tech Park AD. He is a specialist in biotechnology, biomedical engineering and synthetic biology. He was educated and worked at scientific institutes in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland and France. Most of Dr. Kirov‘s work experience is related to electronic olfactory, metabolic modelling, synthetic bacterial promoters and microfluidic engineering and technology. Dr. Kirov also has interests in biosensors (bioMEMS) and biomechatronics.
Eng. Ilko Iliev is a chemical engineer with more than fifty years of experience in managing production activities. He graduated from the Higher Chemico-Technological Institute "Prof. Dr. Assen Zlatarov" – Burgas (at present, "Prof. Dr. Assen Zlatarov" University), majoring in Inorganic and Chemical Technologies. He completed Marketing and Management courses in Miami (the USA) and Las Vegas (the USA). He held the position of Executive Director of Provadsol EAD. Currently, he coordinates the sponsorships of Solvay Sodi AD with all public institutions (municipalities, hospitals, etc.).