Prof. Dr. Robert Penchovsky | Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” | Bulgaria
Prof. Dr. Robert Penchovsky is a Professor of Molecular Genetics, Synthetic Biology, and Bioinformatics, and Head of the Laboratory of Synthetic Biology and Bioinformatics, where he leads academic training, curriculum development, and supervision of graduate and doctoral students while conducting extensive national and international scientific research. He teaches core courses including Molecular Genetics, Introduction to Bioinformatics, Bioinformatics and Molecular Evolution, Synthetic Biology, and Genomics across undergraduate and master’s programs in both English and Bulgarian. He also heads the SDC program “Modern Aspects of Biology: Bioinformatics, Genomics and Synthetic Biology.” His academic background includes a postdoctoral fellowship in RNA Synthetic and Computational Biology at Yale University, a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Cologne, research roles in Germany and Bulgaria, and a master’s degree in Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Genetics from Sofia University. He has received major distinctions including the Outstanding Scientist Award in Sensing Technology (2023), national awards in synthetic biology, bioinformatics, and molecular evolution, recognition for a top ACS Synthetic Biology publication, and multiple mentorship awards through his students. Prof. Penchovsky has led numerous high-impact research projects, including SUMMIT innovation grants for designing allosteric ribozymes and antisense oligonucleotide-based antibacterial agents, and competitive national grants focused on functional nucleic acids, riboswitch targeting, and next-generation antibacterial molecule development. His research output includes 49 scientific publications, with 1,135 citations from 802 documents, and an h-index of 17, reflecting his influential contributions to synthetic biology, molecular evolution, antibacterial nucleic acid therapeutics, and computational bioengineering.
Featured Publications
Otcheva, L. A., Traykovska, M., & Penchovsky, R. (2025). Targeting bacterial adenylate kinase mRNA with a chimeric antisense oligonucleotide for rational antibacterial drug development. Molecules, 30(16), 3425.
Pavlova, N., Dyakova, V., Traykovska, M., Kaloudas, D., & Penchovsky, R. (2025). The application of aptamers in pharmacological drug development and therapeutic. ChemistrySelect, 10(?), Article 2954.
Traykovska, M., & Penchovsky, R. (2025). Design of antisense oligonucleotides and their applications as antibacterial agents: Principles, mechanisms of action and challenges. St. Kliment Ohridski University Press. ISBN: 978-954-07-6132-9
Kaloudas, D., Pavlova, N., & Penchovsky, R. (2024). Computational design of allosteric ribozymes via genetic algorithms. In Methods in Molecular Biology (Vol. ???, pp. ???–???). Springer.
Penchovsky, R., Georgieva, A. V., Dyakova, V., Traykovska, M., & Pavlova, N. (2024). Antisense and functional nucleic acids in rational drug development. Antibiotics, 13(3), 221.
Popova, K. B., & Penchovsky, R. (2024). General and specific cytotoxicity of chimeric antisense oligonucleotides in bacterial cells and human cell lines. Antibiotics, 13(2), 122.
Pavlova, N., Traykovska, M., & Penchovsky, R. (2023). Targeting FMN, TPP, SAM-I, and glmS riboswitches with chimeric antisense oligonucleotides for completely rational antibacterial drug development. Antibiotics, 12(11), 1607.
Kaloudas, D., Pavlova, N., & Penchovsky, R. (2023). GHOST-NOT and GHOST-YES: Two programs for generating high-speed biosensors with randomized oligonucleotide binding sites with NOT or YES Boolean logic functions based on experimentally validated algorithms. Journal of Biotechnology, 375, 38–48.