Robert Penchovsky

Robert Penchovsky is a Full Professor of Molecular Genetics, Synthetic Biology, and Bioinformatics at Sofia University 'St. Kliment Ohridski', Bulgaria. He heads the Laboratory of Synthetic Biology and Bioinformatics within the Faculty of Biology's Department of Genetics. His responsibilities encompass student training, course development, doctoral supervision, and leading national/international research projects.

Education:

• Postdoctoral Study: RNA synthetic/computational biology, Yale University
• PhD: Genetics, microfluidics, and DNA computing, University of Cologne
• Associate's Degree: Applied computer sciences and bioinformatics, Sofia University
• Master's Degree: Biochemistry, microbiology, and genetics, Sofia University

Research Interests: Prof. Penchovsky's work integrates synthetic biology, bioinformatics, and molecular genetics to develop novel antibacterial therapies. Key areas include computational design of allosteric ribozymes, engineering antisense oligonucleotides targeting bacterial riboswitches, and high-throughput drug screening. His lab focuses on combating antibiotic resistance through RNA-based therapeutic strategies and rational drug design.

Publications: His recent articles (2022–2025) predominantly explore antibacterial drug development, riboswitch engineering, and computational biology. Trends include leveraging antisense oligonucleotides for pathogen inhibition, bioinformatic screening of riboswitches, and developing RNA-based biosensors for therapeutic applications.

Awards:

• Outstanding Scientist Award, International Research Awards on Sensing Technology (2023)
• Scientific Excellence Award, Union of Scientists in Bulgaria (2015)

Advising & Grants: He has supervised 16 master's and 5 doctoral students to completion, with current advisees including award-winning researchers. He leads 13+ projects, such as:

• Engineering functional nucleic acids for synthetic gene control (KP-06-H31/18)
• Antisense oligonucleotide design for antibacterial agents (KP-06-H63/1)
• Software development for allosteric ribozyme design (70-123-194/12.02.2024)

Laboratory & Team: The Laboratory of Synthetic Biology and Bioinformatics includes Assistant Professors (Martina Traykovska, Nikolet Pavlova), researchers, and doctoral students. The team focuses on RNA-based drug discovery, genomic analyses, and developing synthetic biology tools for biomedical applications.