Monica Nardi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Health Sciences, Magna Græcia University. Her research interests include catalysis, green chemistry, organic synthesis, natural compounds, and sustainable chemical processes. She has 100 publications with 2950 citations and an h-index of 34 (Scopus, 28 November 2023). During her academic career, she has collaborated with various international research bodies, e.g., she was a Visiting Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, University College London in 2014–2015. She has been an Editorial Board Member for The Molecules Magazine since 2017. She is also the Guest Editor in a Special Issue for the Journals Catalyst, Molecules and Frontiers in Chemistry.
Kalina Alipieva is a deputy director of the Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She is a member of the board of the Bulgarian Phytochemical Society and the Scientific Council of the Institute. Her scientific interests are focused on the chemical composition of medicinal plants and their closely related endemics, as well as in vitro cultivated plant species or plant cells/tissue cultures producing pharmaceutically valuable metabolites. Her vast experience includes NMR metabolomic analysis of extracts and structural analysis of different classes of natural compounds. Dr. Alipieva is a Head of the Laboratory “Bioactive extracts, natural compounds and synthetic analogues” in the Centre of Competence project “Sustainable Utilization of Bioresources and Waste from Medicinal and Aromatic Plants for Innovative Bioactive Products” funded by the Operational Programme SESG.
Milena Popova is the Head of the Lab “Chemistry of Natural Products” at the Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and Chair of its Scientific Council. She has been a coordinator of scientific projects financed by the Bulgarian Science Fund and a participant in a number of international and national projects. For 2021 and 2022, she was among the top 2% in the Stanford University worldwide citation ranking of all scientists and scientific disciplines. Her main research interests include chemical profiling and characterization of bee products (with special attention to propolis), medicinal plants and mushrooms; isolation and structural characterization of biologically active compounds; and standardization and quality control of natural products. She is a co-author of 100+ papers, including review articles and book chapters that have been cited over 3,800 times.
Professor Antonio Procopio is a Full-time Professor in Organic Chemistry at the University of Catanzaro. He spent a year as a Visiting Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy in London (1998–1999) working on the synthesis of building blocks for automated oligosaccharide synthesis. Currently, Professor Procopio's research is centered on the development of low-impact environmental methodologies in organic synthesis according the principles of green chemistry. He has dedicated the last two decades to applying the methodologies developed over the years to the chemical manipulation of the bioactive olive secoiridoids for improving their stability, bioavailability and pharmaco-biological potential.
Svilen P. Simeonov received his MSc degree in Organic chemistry at the University of Sofia in 2004 and completed his PhD studies at Lisbon University in 2014. His research focuses on organic synthesis and incorporating green chemistry technologies in organic chemistry and biorefinery. Currently, the main research direction is the exploration of the Achmatowicz rearrangement as a new synthetic platform derived from biorenewable furfural. He has 40 publications with 2441 citations and an h-index of 17 (Scopus, 28 November 2023). He received the UNESCO award for leading young researchers “Green Chemistry for Life” in 2015. Currently, he is a PI of a project funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund and a coordinator for Bulgaria of a Horizon 2020 project.
