Prof. Ilina Krasteva, DSci, graduated from Faculty of Pharmacy at Medical University of Sofia in 1987. Since 1988 she is an assistant/chief assistant, from 2008 assoc. professor and from 2013 professor in the Department of Pharmacognosy. She defended a PhD dissertation „Phytochemical investigation of Astragalus corniculatus Bieb. (Fabaceae)“ and later a dissertation for Doctor of Science „Biologically active compounds with protective action in species of the genus Astragalus L., distributed in Bulgaria“ both in pharmacognosy and phytochemistry.

She has a specialty in “Medicinal plants and herbals”, acquired through the Postgraduate Education System of MU-Sofia.

She is currently a professor at the Department of Pharmacognosy and participates in the training in Pharmacognosy Part I and II.

The research work and the contributions of prof. Ilina Krasteva are in the following areas of pharmaceutical science and practice: pharmacognosy and phytochemistry of medicinal plants.

She is an author or/and co-author of 100 scientific papers, 4 textbooks, 3 chapters in monographs, with over 500 citations in peer reviewed and indexed journals: Citation Reports of Clarivate, Scopus of Elsevier, Web of Science of Clavirate, Google Scholar.

Prof. Krasteva is an expert in pharmacognosy and phytochemistry.

She is a participant in over 33 scientific projects, funded by the Council of Medicinal Science at Medical University of Sofia and the National Science Fund at the Ministry of Education and a reviewer for scientific journals: Carbohydrate Research, Natural Product Research, Pharmacognosy Magazine, Natural Product Communications, Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry и др.

Prof. Krasteva is a chairperson of the Specialised Commission on Plant Medicinal Products at Bulgarian Drug Agency.

She is a regional representative for Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova for the Phytochemical Society of Europe. She is a member of: AMAPSEEC (Association for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants from Southeast European Countries), Bulgarian Phytochemical Association, Bulgarian Scientific Society of Pharmacy, Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union, and Bulgarian Scientific Society of Toxicology.

Scientific publications:

1. Krasteva I, Bratkov V, Bucar F, Kunert O, Kollroser M, Kondeva-Burdina M, Ionkova I. Flavoalkaloids and flavonoids from Astragalus monspessulanus. J Nat Prod, 2015;78(11):2565–71.
2. Krasteva I, ∙ Shkondrov A, ∙ Ionkova I, Zdraveva P. Advances in phytochemistry, pharmacology and biotechnology of Bulgarian Astragalus Phytochem Rev, 2016;15(4):567–90.      
3. Shkondrov A, Krasteva I, Bucar F, Kunert O, Kondeva-Burdina M, Ionkova I. Flavonoids and saponins from two Bulgarian Astragalus species and their neuroprotective activity. Phytochem Lett, 2018;26:44-9.
4. Shkondrov A, Krasteva I, Bucar F, Kunert O, Kondeva-Burdina M, Ionkova I. A new tetracyclic saponin from Astragalus glycyphyllos and its neuroprotective and hMAO-B inhibiting activity. Nat Prod Res, 2020; 34(4):511-17.
5. Shkondrov A, & Krasteva I. High resolution LC-MS/MS screening for secondary metabolites in Bulgarian species of genus Astragalus L. Quím Nova, 2021; 44(6):683-8.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ilina-Krasteva

Research projects:

1. New compounds with antitumor and antioxidant activity – study of the processes of biosynthesis in vitro and in native complexes of unexplored medicinal plants. National Science Fund at the Ministry of Education, № ДН-03/6/17.12.2016 г.
2. Innovative low-toxic biologically active substances for precision medicine – “BioActiveMed” MH, Contract №Д0 1-217/30.11.2018 г.
3. High-resolution phytochemical screening for rare biologically active compounds in species of the genus Astragalus L. (Fabaceae). Medical University of Sofia,№ Д-81/2018 г.
4. Development of an effective method for isolation of mauritanian from plant sources and in vivo study for protective activity. Medical University of Sofia, № Д-76/2019 г.
5. Phytochemical study of Astragalus corniculatus and Astragalus hamosus. Medical University of Sofia, № Д-122/2020 г.