Dr Penka Nikolova
Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry
Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 848 4276
Fax number: +44 (0) 207 848 4500
Email address: penka.nikolova@kcl.ac.uk
King's Postal Address:
Institute of Pharmaceutical Science
King's College London
3rd Floor, Franklin-Wilkins Building
150 Stamford Street
London SE1 9NH
Profile
Research interests: Structure-function of the p53 family of transcription factors and their role in cancer and other human disorders.
Academic posts:
Jan. 2002- current Senior Biochemistry Lecturer, King’s College London, School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Pharmaceutical Science & Biochemistry Dept, London, UK
Sept. 1999 - Dec. 2001: MRC/CRC Research Associate, with unit director Prof. Sir Alan R. Fersht, FRS, Cambridge University Chemical Laboratory and Cambridge Centre for Protein Engineering, Cambridge, UK.
Sept. 1996 - Aug. 1999: MRC of Canada Post Doctoral Research Fellow, with Prof. Sir Alan R. Fersht, FRS, Cambridge University Chemical Laboratory and Cambridge Centre for Protein Engineering, Cambridge, UK.
Sept. 1994 - Aug. 1996: NSERC of Canada Post Doctoral Research Fellow, with Prof. Charles A. Haynes, the Biotechnology Laboratory and Protein Engineering Network of Centers of Excellence, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
July 1993 - Aug. 1994: Post Doctoral Research Fellow, with Prof. Owen P. Ward, Dept. of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Sept. 1989 - June 1993: PhD student with Prof. Owen P. Ward, Dept. of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Membership to learned societies and charities:
• Member of the Biochemical Society of Great Britan-2002-current
• Member of Breast cancer Breakthrough CAN panel and the Influencing and Policy panel: since 2007
• Member of Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: since 2007
Fellowships and other awards:
• Travel Grant from the Biochemical Society of GB to attend a p53 international workshop in Italy, May 2011.
• Travel Grant from the Biochemical Society of GB to attend a p73 international meeting in Rome, 2007.
• Travel Grant from the Biochemical Society of GB to attend a p53 international meeting in New York, May 2006.
• Travel grant from CRC (UK) to attend the International Conference on Basic and Clinical Aspects of Cell Cycle Control, 2000, Siena, Italy
•Travel grant to attend the workshop on "p53: twenty years on", 1999, Trieste, Italy
• NATO travel grant - "Protein Dynamics, Function and Design", 1997, Erice, Italy
• Lucy Cavendish College Visiting Scholarship, Cambridge University, 1996-2000
• Medical Research Council of Canada Post Doctoral Fellowship, 1996-99
• Nominated for the Centennial Postdoctoral Fellowship of the MRC of Canada by the
Dean of Science, Univ. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 1996
• Short-listed for the Royal Society of Canada Alice Wilson Award, 1995
• NSERC of Canada Post Doctoral Fellowship, 1994-96
Review of grants and manuscripts:
• Research grants reviewed for: Israeli Science Foundation; Association for International Cancer Research; BBSRC; MRC UK; Prostate Cancer Charity
• Research Manuscripts reviewed for: Oncogene, J. Mol. Biology, Biochemistry (ACS), Biochemical J., BMC Genomics, FEBS Letters, Cell Death and Differentiation, International Journal of Andrology, J. Biological Chemistry, PLoS One, Process Biochemistry.
• Book chapters reviewed for: Molecular Biology of Cancer: Mechanisms, Targets, and Therapeutics, 2nd edition, by Lauren Pecorino (2008) Oxford University Press.
Teaching:
Module coordinator for 6BBB 302 and 306-Library projects in Molecular Genetic;
Library projects in Biochemistry (final year course)
Module 6BBYG 307: Immunogenetics and Cancer Genetics (p53 –the key to cancer)
Module 6BBB 0349: Biochemistry and Genetics of Human Disease (The p53 family of proteins and their role in health and disease).
Module: 6BBB 0333: Protein Folding and Design (Protein folding in vivo. Role in human disease).
Module: BB0106: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (pH and Amino Acid Titration-practical-1st year).
Module: 5BBB Protein Structure and Function (Protein Folding in vitro and in vivo. Molecular Chaperones).
MRes- students: 15 students since 2002
Module 6BBB0313: Extended Research Projects in Molecular Science: 15 Final year Students since 2002