Assoc. Prof. Vessela Balabanova-Bozushka, PhD graduated from the Faculty of Biology at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” with a Master’s degree in Biology (1999), and later obtained a Master’s degree in Plant Biotechnology (2023).
In 2000, she started as an assistant at the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University- Sofia, became a senior assistant in 2010, and since 2025 she is an associate professor at the same Department.
Her PhD thesis is on scientific specialty „Pharmaceutical botany” on topic: “Ecological and biological investigation of Аrnica montana L. (Аsteraceae) and its possibilities for introduction in Bulgaria”.
Assoc. Prof. V. Balabanova holds postgraduate specializations in “Medicinal plants and Natural Products” and “Organization and economics of pharmaceutical production”, achieved at MU-Sofia.
Currently, she is an Associated Professor at the Department of Pharmacognosy and teaches in discipline “Pharmaceutical botany” in both Bulgarian and English; she is also a lecturer in the discipline “Pharmaceutical Botany” for the Pharmacy Assistant program at the “Yordanka Filaretova” Medical College, MU – Sofia, and supervises diploma theses.
Her scientific research and contributions lie in the following areas of pharmaceutical science and practice: pharmaceutical botany, phytochemistry, chemophenetics, antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activity evaluation, cultivation and sustainable use of natural resources.
She is the author of over 45 scientific publications, 1 textbook, with more than 260 citations in indexed journals listed in J. Citation Reports of Clarivate, Scopus, Web of science, Google scholar.
She is a project coordinator of 1 and participates in 20 scientific projects funded by Medical Science Council, MU-Sofia, 2 projects funded by The Bulgarian National Science Fund, a project funded by the European Union under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and an international AUF ECO 2024 project between the University Agency for Francophonie and the Medical University – Sofia.
Member of the editorial board of the scientific journals: Plants, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, and Life.
Reviewer for scientific journals including Plants, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Molecules, Nutrients, Foods, Horticulturae, Pharmaceuticals, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, Heliyon, Acta Biologica Cracoviensia s. Botanica, and Pharmacia.
Member of the Expert Committee at the Ministry of Environment and Water on the implementation of the Medicinal Plants Act and the National Strategy for Biodiversity Conservation.
Membership: Association for the Medical and Aromatic Plants of Southeast European Countries (AMAPSEC), Bulgarian Phytochemical Society, Balkan Medical Union, Bulgarian Scientific Pharmaceutical Society, Bulgarian Society of Nutrition and Dietetics, Bulgarian Toxicology Society, EuroTox.

Scientific projects:
1. AUF ECO 2024 DRECO-8591/28.06.2024. Project: Nutraceuticals: A protective, innovative approach against metabolic disorders – NAPETOM, between the University Agency for Francophonie (AUF) and MU – Sofia. Project coordinator: Assoc. Prof. R. Gevrenova, DSc.
2. Project BG-RRP-2.004-0004-C01/29.12.2022. Strategic research and innovation program for the development of the Medical University – Sofia, funded by the European Council under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Research group: MUS_3.1_19 PHOENIX-NCD. Project coordinator of the RG: Prof. G. Momekov, DSc.
3. Project D-321/2022; Medical Science Council, MU-Sofia. Stimulating Research in Areas with High Achievements–2022. Nutraceutical potential of Tanacetum balsamita L. and Cicerbita alpina (L.) Wallr. in modulating metabolic syndrome: in vitro and in vivo studies.
Lead researcher: Assoc. Prof. D. Zheleva-Dimitrova, PhD.
4. Project D-156/2022; Medical Science Council, MU-Sofia. Taxonomic study of Gypsophila perfoliata L. (Caryophyllaceae) sensu lato.
Project coordinator: Assist. Prof. V. Balabanova-Bozushka, PhD.
5. Project D-102/2021; Medical Science Council, MU-Sofia. Chemophenetic aspects in tribe Senecioneae (family Asteraceae): Combining morphometric and phytochemical analyses to search for specialized natural products.
Project coordinator: Assoc. Prof. D. Zheleva-Dimitrova, PhD.
6. Project D-99/2021; Medical Science Council, MU-Sofia. LC-MS and GC-MS analyses of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in complex matrices.
Project coordinator: Assoc. Prof. Y. Voynikov, PhD.
7. Project KP-06-Rila/5/15.12.2021. Bulgarian National Science Fund, Bilateral Cooperation Program – 2021, Bulgaria-France, “Rila” Program (MU-Sofia, Faculty of Pharmacy, and University of Lorraine, Nancy).
Study of the antineoplastic potential of extracts from medicinal plants from Southeastern Europe via toxicogenomics. Project coordinator: Assoc. Prof. R. Gevrenova (Bulgaria) and Assoc. Prof. O. Joubert (France).

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9938-6542
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=25026599600
https://cris.nacid.bg/public/scientist-preview/42184