SCIENTISTS FROM THE INSTITUTE OF MICROBIOLOGY PRESENT 12 RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “KLIMENT’S DAYS 2026”

Scientists and early-career researchers from the “Stefan Angelov” Institute of Microbiology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) participated in the International Conference on Natural Sciences and Biotechnology “Clement’s Days 2026” (ICNSB 2026), held on 5–6 November at the Faculty of Biology of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. The Institute was represented by a total of 12 research contributions in the fields of biomedical and biotechnological research.
The conference was opened by Prof. Milen Georgiev, a member of the Scientific Committee of the event. In his plenary lecture, entitled “Promotion Of Healthspan And Longevity By Natural Compounds: Myth Or Reality?”, he explored the potential of biologically active compounds to influence the molecular mechanisms of ageing and contribute to extending the proportion of life spent in good health.
Assoc. Prof. Dr Lilia Mihaylova presented a paper entitled “Inflammaging: is Chronic Low-Grade Inflammation a Driver or a Consequence of Age-Related Metabolic Dysfunction?”, examining the bidirectional relationship between inflammation, metabolic disorders and ageing.
Prof. Svetla Danova, DSc, and Chief Assistant PhD Lili Dobreva co-authored a study on the effects of bacterial metabolites and dietary patterns on the intestinal epithelium, presented as part of the invited lecture by Veselina Moskova-Dumanova.
The poster programme featured researchers from various departments of the Institute. Several contributions focused on ageing and metabolic health. Chief Assistant Professor PhD Martina Savova presented research on the effects of pomegranate juice and the compound punicalagin on lipid homeostasis and gene expression. Using the Caenorhabditis elegans model, PhD Monika Todorova investigated hormesis and the role of controlled stress in cellular resilience; Assistant Professor Iva Stoykova studied the effects of Bulgarian species of the genus Scrophularia in metabolic disorders and obesity; and Assistant Professor Boris Krastev examined the effects of Sambucus ebulus (dwarf elder) juice on longevity and stress adaptation.
Two other posters addressed topics related to human health. The first presented a study of the endometrial microbiome in patients experiencing reproductive difficulties (Ilina Poparova, Assoc. Prof. Dr Maria Gerginova, Assoc. Prof. Dr Ekaterina Krumova and Assoc. Prof. Dr Galina Stoyancheva). The second focused on the relationship between fluctuations in ambient temperature and the leukocyte-to-platelet ratio in healthy donors (PhD student Sonya Velkova and Assoc. Prof. Dr Petya Dimitrova).
Biotechnological applications were represented by research on the extraction of triterpenoid saponin glycosides from horse chestnut seeds (Kristina Ivanova, Assoc. Prof. PhD Nikolina Mihaylova, assoc. prof. PhD Kalina Nikolova-Ganeva, Chief Assistant PhD Nikola Ralchev, molecular biologist Nikoleta Dyakova and Assoc. Prof. PhD Andrey Marchev); the disruption of established bacterial biofilms using polymeric micelles containing plant extract (Assoc. Prof. PhD Petya D. Dimitrova and Assoc. Prof. PhD Tsvetelina Paunova-Krasteva); and the use of Antarctic yeasts as a dietary supplement in Nile tilapia farming in an aquaponic system (Senior Assist. PhD Snezhana Rusinova-Videva).