I graduated from the Higher Medical Institute, Varna, Bulgaria, in 1974 where I also started my research carrier as Assistant Perofessor in the Dept. of Physiology. After obtaining my PhD in 1984 I joined the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Institute of Biophysics Sofia) where I got my first habilitation as Associate Professor (1994) and grew up to Full Professor (2002), head of Department "Cell Adhesion" and Research Director. I would describe myself as an interdisciplinary-oriented scientist working in the field of cell-biomaterial interaction and tissue engineering. In 1991-1993 I was postdoc in Southwestern Medical Center Dallas and during the following decade I spent more than 7 years as guest-scientist in Germany and France, and later almost 2 years in Spain. Since April 2007 I am ICREA Research Professor at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) heading the new research group Molecular Dynamics at Cell-Biomaterials Interface.

Research interests

I am working in the field of cell-biomaterials interaction and tissue engineering. On that topic I have published more than 90 original papers and filed 5 patents. As ICREA Research Professor at Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) I have created a new research group Molecular dynamics at cell-biomaterials interface, where we seek to understand the cellular mechanisms that determine biocompatibility of materials. My research interests might be summarized as follows: -Cell-biomaterials interaction -Development of provisional extracellular matrix at biomaterials interface -Nanofibers design and production via electrospinning -Tissue engineering -Controlled differentiation of mesenchimal stem cells -In situ endothelization and neovascularization of implants.