Academic Professor Dr. Lachezar Traikov, MD
Topic:
"Treatment of dementia"
Rector of Medical University - Sofia since 2020 and academic of BAS since 2018. In the period 1993-2000 he worked in the field of normal and pathological aging of the brain at INSERM, Paris, France. He defended his doctoral dissertation (equivalent to DMN) at the Ministry of Finance of the Rene Descartes University in Paris. He is a qualified professor of Neuroscience at the National Council of Universities, France. In 2004/2005 he was a visiting professor of neurology at the University of Paris.He has published over 700 scientific papers, 84 of which are articles in some of the world's most prestigious journals in the field of neuroscience and 180 in Bulgarian. He has been cited more than 2,700 times in foreign journals and more than 150 times in foreign monographs (h-index 27).He is the winner of the 1st Prize for Scientific Research in 1994 of the American Academy of Neurology, the 1st Prize for Established Researchers of the France Alzheimer's Foundation for 1998 and 1999, the Prof. K. Chilov ”for 2003,“ Golden Panacea ”- for 2005; Honorary plaque of the Ministry of Health - 2013; Union of Scientists Award 2013; Award for contribution to the activities of the Balkan Medical Union, 2017; Medic of the Year Award for 2017 and Pythagoras Award for 2019 Acad. Traikov is the founder of a modern school of dementology and neuropsychology in Bulgaria with 20 successfully defended doctoral students, among whom currently four are associate professors and one is a professor. His main scientific contributions are in the fields of cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diseases with diffuse involvement of the Central nervous system, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, neurogenetics.
Professor Dr. Liana Apostolova
Topic: "Alzheimer`s disease: Principles and new diagnostic methods"
Subject: Liana G. Apostolova, MD, MSc, FAAN is an IU Distinguished Professor and the Barbara and Peer Baekgaard Professor in Alzheimer's Disease Research and Professor in Neurology, Radiology, Medical and Molecular Genetics. Dr. Liana Apostolova earned her M.D. from the Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria Summa Cum Laude. She completed her Neurology residency training at University of Iowa and a dementia fellowship as the Tichi Wilkerson-Kassel Dementia Fellow in the Department of Neurology at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Apostolova joined the IU School of Medicine in 2015 as Professor of Neurology, Radiology, and Medical and Molecular Genetics, and the Barbara and Peer Baekgaard Professor in Alzheimer’s Disease Research. In 2021 she was named Distinguished Professor. Dr. Apostolova’s early research focused on the early and pre-symptomatic stages of Alzheimer’s disease and the development and validation of sensitive imaging and genetic biomarkers for Alzheimer’s and other dementing disorders. Her research explores the intersection of cognition, neuroimaging, blood-based biomarkers, and genetics. Her reputation as a world leader in the clinical investigation of Alzheimer’s disease led to her becoming the lead principal investigator of one of the largest NIA Alzheimer’s studies to date and the largest grant ever received by a scientist at IU. This project - the Longitudinal Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Study (LEADS), established a national consortium focused on early-onset AD. Dr. Apostolova also directs the clinical core of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at IU and is the Editor-In-Chief for Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring (DADM) journal. Dr. Apostolova has authored or co-authored over 100 scholarly articles and 15 book chapters. Her work has been cited more than 14,000 times with an h-index of 58. She has served as the PI or co-PI on studies funded by the NIH, AHA, Roche Diagnostics, and the Alzheimer’s Association. Among her awards are the AFAR‐GE Healthcare Junior Investigator Award for Excellence in Imaging and Aging Research; the AAN Research Award in Geriatric Neurology; the Dorothy Dillon Eweson Lectureship on the Advances in Aging Research; and the Alzheimer’s Association de Leon Prize in Neuroimaging, Senior Scientist Category. She was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology in 2015.
Jasmine Vasileva, Ph.D.
Topic: "Neurocognitive aspects of impulsivity as new markers of addiction to psychoactive substances and new targets for interventions"
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Institute for Drug and Alcohol Research, Richmond, Virginia.World-renowned researcher on the problems of cognition and impulsivity in addictions and personality disorders. She has acquired the qualification "tenure", ie. full professor at the University of Richmond, Virginia.1991-1995 B.A. in Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada1996-1999 M.S. in Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology track), Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL1999-2002 Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology track),Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL2001-2002 Clinical Psychology Internship, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois - Chicago2002-2004 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Neuropsychology, Cognitive & Addictions Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois - Chicago2004-2009 Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois - Chicago2009-2014 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois - Chicago2013-2014 Assistant Professor of Psychology (secondary appointment) Department of Psychology, University of Illinois - Chicago2014-2017 Associate Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University2016- P Associate Professor of Psychology (secondary appointment) Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University 2017- P Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Tenured) Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University
Professor Dr. Michael Sharpe
Topic: "Rethinking the distinction between body and mind: reintegrating psychiatry with the rest of medicine"
Michael Sharpe MA MD FRCP FRCPsych is Professor of Psychological Medicine at the University of Oxford. His career long aim is to better integrate psychiatry into other areas of medicine to improve patient care and outcomes. He has published landmark trials of integrated care including the PACE trial of treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome and three SMaRT oncology trials of depression management in cancer patients. He is currently leading the NIHR HOME trial of integrated proactive psychiatry for older medical inpatients. He established the Integrated Psychological Medicine Centre at Oxford University Hospitals NHS FT and now advises the Hospital Board on integrated physical and mental care. His international roles include serving as immediate Past President and Board member of the American Academy of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry (ACLP) and as Vice-President of the European Association of Psychosomatic Medicine (EAPM).
Dr. Ivan Koychev, MD
Topic: "Insulin resistance and cognition"
Senior Clinical Researcher; clinician-scientist at the Dementia Platform UKNeuropsychiatrist Consultant, NHS Oxford University Hospital Trust Clinical academic psychiatrist (in the GMC Register of Gerontology and General Psychiatry for Adults) with a focus on the development of treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders. Conducts research covering key components of the methodology of clinical trials with neuropsychiatric focus: i) clinical trials for confirmation of concept (proof-of-concept clinical trials) based on biomarkers, ii) testing of registered drugs with a new indication, iii) development of biomakers for stratification and efficacy in Alzheimer's disease; and (iv) establishing an infrastructure for large-scale stratified recruitment of participants in neuropsychiatric experimental medical research. Clinically, Ivan is focused on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with psychiatric manifestations in patients with neurological diseases.
Prof. Dr. Petar Marinov, MD
Topic: "Cognitive disorders in psychiatry"
Specialist in psychiatry and forensic psychiatryDissertations: "Clinical, clinical-psychological and psychosocial aspects of schizophrenia and homicide"; "Approbation of a screening system for depressive and anxiety disorders in general medical practice" Participation in the management of Bulgarian psychiatric associations1997 - 2000 participation in the Bulgarian Psychosomatic Society as a member and also a member of the organizing committees of the conferences during the given period2000 - 2002 Scientific Secretary of College Private Psychiatry1999 - 2004 Founder of the Biological Psychiatry Foundation, co-organizer of a series of training modules together with the World Federation of Biological Psychiatry2002 - 2004 Treasurer of the Bulgarian Psychiatric Association2004 - 2006 Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Psychiatric Association2006 - 2008 Chairman of the Bulgarian Psychiatric Association 2008 - 2010 Member of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Psychiatric Association.
Autobiography
Dr. Nikola Stefanov Markov
Born 12th June, 1960 in the city of Plovdiv. He graduated from the Higher Medical Institute - Plovdiv in 1986. He acquired his specialty in Psychiatry in 1990. While specializing, he had been working as resident in the State Psychiatrical Hospital - Patalenitsa. During the period between 1990 and 1999 he worked as an intern in Psychiatric Dispensary - Plovdiv.After leaving his position in the Psychiatric Dispensary – Plovdiv, he became the first entirely private practitioner in the country. In 2003 he created the first private inpatient psychiatric structure - "Anima" in the village of Radinovo and managed it until 2011.Member of the Bulgarian Medical Union, Bulgarian Psychiatric Association. Founder, He has also chaired a member of the Board of the College of Private Psychiatry since 2000. He has interests, numerous publications and presentations in the fields of biological psychiatry, biological non-drug treatments, personalized psychiatry, social psychiatry, interdisciplinary psychiatry, history of psychiatry. Published in Receptor magazine, member of the editorial board; magazine “Folia Psychiatryca ”; Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry; "Bulgarian Journal of Psychiatry", member of the Editorial Board until 2019, leading the column "Personalities"; member of The editorial board of the magazine "Mental Health".Co-author of all consensuses in Bulgarian psychiatry. Co - author of Standard in Psychiatry, published in the State Gazette. Participant in many advisory boards.Co-founder of the UFO Award for Young Psychiatrists, Vice President of the Foundation Young medics for Bulgaria. In 2020 he published the collection of articles "Personalities".
Prof. Dr. Plamen
Stoyanov Bozhinov, MD, MD, Guest Lecturer
Topic: Cognition and non-invasive brain stimulation.
Specialist in neurology,
EEG, transcranial magnetic and direct current stimulation, epileptologist.
Head of the Neurological
Clinic, MHAT "Heart and Brain" - Pleven, Research Institute,
Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery Medical University - Pleven, Bulgarian
Institute of Cardiology
Full-time doctoral
student at the First Neurological Clinic of the Department of Neurology and
Neurosurgery at the Medical University of Pleven (1997-2000) and specialist in
neurology since 2002. He specializes in clinical neurology, neurophysiology and
epileptology at MU – Sofia (1997 - 1998); MU - Plovdiv (1998); in Florence
(Italy) (1999-2000); in Chestch and Prague (Czech Republic) - 2001; at LMU
Munich (Germany) - 2001, 2003 and 2005. As Fellow of the European Federation of
Neurological Societies specializes neurology, neuroophthalmology, otoneurology,
clinical neurophysiology and neuropsychology at MU - Lübeck (Germany) - 2002.
Acquires the educational
and scientific degree "Doctor" in the scientific specialty neurology
in 2002 on the basis of a defended dissertation on the topic: “Complex clinical
- neurophysiological evaluation of patients with occipital epileptic attacks ”.
In 2015 he was awarded the degree of "Doctor of Medical Sciences" in
the scientific specialty of neurology after successful defense of a
dissertation on a topic "Epilepsy and pregnancy - opportunities to
optimize clinical behavior".
Associate Professor at
the Neurological Clinic of the University Hospital "Dr. Georgi
Stranski" and Medical University - Pleven 2011 - 2013. Associate Professor
(2011), Professor (2018) and Head of the Department of Neurology and
Neurosurgery at the Medical University - Pleven 2014 – 2020.
Conducts training
modules in clinical neurophysiology for specialists in neurology and psychiatry
and specialized postgraduate courses of neurologists and psychiatrists in
electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).
Since 2004 he has been
working as a consultant in specialized neurological and neurophysiological
office of Galileo Medical Center - Pleven as a specialist in
electroencephalography, evoked potentials, otoneurology, transcranial magnetic
stimulation (TMC) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).
He is the author and
co-author of eight scientific monographs and has over 100 scientific
publications. His research interests are in the field of clinical neurology,
neurophysiology, epileptology, otoneurology, transcranial magnetic stimulation
and direct current stimulation of the CNS.
Deputy Chairman of the
Bulgarian Society against Epilepsy (the Bulgarian branch of the International
League Against Epilepsy - ILAE) since 2010. Member of the Board of the editors
of JBCR magazine of MU - Pleven and of the editorial board of Journal of
“Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery“.
Dr. Yavor Delchev, MD
Topic: "Cognition and
addiction. Overview"
1997 - Doctor of Medicine, Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria
2002 - Diploma in Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Besançon, France
2004 - Doctor of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg
2009 - Diploma in Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Besançon, France
2007 - Diploma in Liazon Psychiatry, Pitié Salpêtrière University Hospital, Marie and Pierre Curie University, Paris VI
2009 - Master of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Besançon, France2011 - Diploma in Addictology (Addictive Behavior) University of Paris XI.
1998-2000 - Research Physician, Laboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology, Institute of Physiology, BAS.
1.12.2008 -08/12/2011 - Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Lariboisière University Hospital, Paris
From 9/12/2011 - Resident (Praticien hospitalier) in psychiatry-additology, Center for Addictology, Georges Pompidou European Hospital, Paris
From 1/1/2017 - Private practitioner and founder of the Cabinet of Psychiatry, Additology and Psychotherapy "T8", Paris.
DR. NIKOLA MARKOV: FROM MY TEACHER PROF. TASHEV I LEARNED THAT WE SHOULD SEEK
FOR THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF RECOGNITION AMONG OUR COLLEAGUES
Reprinted from Zdrave.net – The Bulgarian health portalhttps://www.zdrave.net
Author: Nevena Popova
The doctor is not just a specialist who works
brilliantly or has made a mistake. It is not only the one whose decisions the
patient relies on. He is not even the only expert that our health and sometimes
our lives depend on. He is all this, but also much more - because behind each
name with "Dr." in the front, there is a Man.
Who is this Man behind
the name, what are his life choices, how does he work and how does he rest - we
are looking for the answers to these questions in our new section "Who are
you, Doctor?"
Dr. Nikola Markov is a graduate from Medical University - Plovdiv. After graduating in 1986, Dr. Markov began his professional path in the State Psychiatric Hospital in the village of Patalenitsa. He acquired his specialty in 1990. He also works in Mental Health Centre in Plovdiv. For more than 20 years Dr. Markov has had an independent practice as a specialist psychiatrist in Plovdiv. One of the founders of the College of Private Psychiatry. One of the few specialists in our country who applies transcranial magnetic stimulation as a therapeutic method for various mental disorders. A few days ago he was awarded the prize in the name of Assoc. Prof. Georgi Koychev for overall contribution to the development of modern Psychiatry in Bulgaria.
Dr. Markov, your professional career during the recent years is inextricably linked to the cause of "Private Psychiatry", you are one of the founders of the association with the same name. Did you achieve the goals that brought you together in the beginning - more humane, more accessible and more efficient psychiatric care and support for people with such problems?
We should keep in mind that this is from the last 20 years. In the conditions of an unreformed health care system, we have contributed to the decentralization of psychiatric care and its positioning in the community, which is inevitably associated with more humanity, easier accessibility and increased efficiency.
On the day you receive the award in the name of the inspirer of the idea of expanding the private psychiatric practice Assoc. Prof. Georgi Koychev, I can't help but ask you if it is difficult for you to talk about him in past tense?
The loss is palpable and painful, but the memories and experience with Assoc. Prof. Koychev, his lessons and his scientific and human heritage leave the feeling that he and his personality are still among us.
Tell us a bit about what brought you together with this group of colleagues, what were your first steps?
Being a part of the progressive, developing part of the professional community, having the support, but also the criticism of like-minded people is a challenge that I accepted in 2000. Under the leadership of Assoc. Prof. Koychev, Collegium "Private Psychiatry" created the first consensus in the new history of Bulgarian Psychiatry, which are embedded in the first professional standards. With each passing year, the conferences have been improving their quality and have become expected events, defining trends and future directions. These meetings were and still are interdisciplinary in nature, as a rule and with the participation of colleagues from abroad.
It is no secret the great attention that you pay to colleagues who are now making their first steps in this profession. You were a co-founder of the NLO Award for Young Psychiatrists (Niki and Lacho assess) together with Prof. Lachezar Hranov, who is also no longer with us. You are now a part of the managing body in the newly established Foundation “Young Physicians for Bulgaria”. What is the reason for your devotion to the cause with these young people - graduates, students?
As a young doctor I received the exceptional support and the opportunity to grow and develop myself from Dr. Krum Savov and Dr. Nikolai Dzhambazov. I promised to return the gesture to young colleagues, and now it's time for that.
If you look at yourself, during your path over the years, do you have an answer to the question - does the young Dr. Nikola Markov look like them or is he different - in his thoughts, ambitions and intentions?
Today I still remain excited and satisfied in the quest to provide assistance in significantly more opportunities based on the development of the specialty worldwide and nationally.
Do these young people have a perspective for development in our country or has our Psychiatry seriously deviated from the direction in which the world is going today? What do you want to wish them?
Foundation “Young Physicians for Bulgaria” aims to financially support young medics. Personally, I realize that no matter how much we help them, it will be incomparably less than what they would receive outside the country. What I can do is, I try to show them the advantages, remaining in Bulgaria to develop ahead of time, and, of course, have access to high technology and innovative therapeutic methods, which in a more strictly regulated and hierarchical system are difficult and slower to achieve. As paradoxical as it may sound, in our country, the "art of healing" is still possible. Let them be healthy, first of all, and turn their work into pleasure.
And instead of a finale, let me ask you - which of the testaments of your teachers in science do you keep in yourself as the truth to which you will remain faithful regardless of the circumstances?
Prof. Todor Tashev, whose direct graduate I consider myself to be, said that it is important to receive the recognition of our patients, but we must seek the highest degree of recognition among our colleagues. I believe that the award in the name of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Georgi Koychev for contribution to Bulgarian psychiatry brings me closer to this goal.
"There are no stuntmen in life - you have to take care of yourself, do what you can best ..."
(Dr. Georgi Koychev)