Anely Nedelchev

Prof. Anely Nedelcheva holds a Professorship in Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry at Sofia University’s Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, where she has served since 2018. Previously, she was an Associate Professor (2012–2018) and Assistant Professor (1997–2012) in Botany at the same institution. Her research focuses on ethnobotany, traditional herbal medicine, and pharmacognostic analysis of medicinal plants. She leads projects such as the 2017–2018 ethnobotanical study of Bulgaria’s North Black Sea coast and contributed to EU-funded initiatives like HEI-PLADI (2015–2018), developing e-learning resources on plant taxonomy. She chairs the Scientific Education Council of the Balkan Ecological Center and is active in editorial roles for journals like the EurAsian Journal of BioSciences. Her teaching spans master’s-level pharmacognosy courses and botanical electives.

Education: PhD in Biological Sciences (1998), M.Sc. in Biology/Medicinal Plants (1989), both from Sofia University. She has authored/co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, including a 2014 Springer volume on Balkan medicinal ethnobotany. Her utility patents include compositions based on honey and herbal extracts. Research interests emphasize morphological/phytochemical plant identification, traditional knowledge preservation, and cross-cultural comparisons of herbal medicine practices.

Professional Engagement: Member of AMAPSEEC (since 2000), the International Society of Ethnobiology (since 2010), and reviewer for numerous journals including Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. She has published textbooks on plant taxonomy and biology education for Bulgarian schools, reflecting her commitment to science communication and pedagogy.