Prof. Dr. Nikola Kolev, DSc graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at MU-Varna in 1998. He obtained a speciality in Surgery in 2003. Prof. Nikola Kolev defended a dissertation thesis entitled “Clinical Significance of Intraoperative Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping in Colorectal Cancer". In 2012 he defended a dissertation thesis on “Rectal Cancer – Modern Surgical Management" and was elected to the academic position of Professor at the Department of General and Operative Surgery. Prof. Dr. Nikola Kolev has been Head of the Department of General and Operative Surgery since 2012.
Prof. Kolev is the youngest Associate Professor and Professor in the field of Surgery in Bulgaria.
He is fluent in English and Russian.
Prof. Dr. Nikola Kolev's professional interests are focused on oncological surgery for cancer of the colon and rectum, liver, bile ducts, pancreas, etc. Following specialisations at leading world centres, he has perfected his skills in minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgery as well as in endoscopic procedures.
He has specialised in the following areas:
- visceral surgery;
- colorectal surgery;
- liver, bile duct and pancreas surgery;
- oncology surgery;
- minimally invasive, endoscopic and laparoscopic surgery;
- minimally invasive oesophagus surgery;
- intraoperative and endorectal ultrasound;
- thoracoscopic surgery;
- robotic surgery
at leading world centres such as Los Angeles, Harvard Medical University, Boston (the USA), Pittsburgh (the USA), Cambridge (the UK), Bern (Switzerland), Milan (Italy), Hannover (Germany), Göttingen (Germany), Seoul (South Korea), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Berlin (Germany), Fort Lauderdale (the USA).
Under his guidance, the first portal vein embolisation in Bulgaria has been performed in advanced stages of liver metastases, allowing radical surgery for the patient and giving him a new chance for living.
Together with a team of invasive radiologists he has performed thermoablation in liver metastases and primary tumours, as well as transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE), which is unique to our country.
He has participated in the development of a modern treatment methodology for early rectal cancer – submucosal dissection, which has been applied since 2012.
Awards and Honours
Holder of the Ingeborg Hörhager Award from the International Congress of the European Federation for coloRectal cancer (EFR) in 2013 for merits in the field of Colorectal Surgery.
Holder of the Eurasian Colorectal Technologies Association Award for achievement in the field of oncosurgical strategy in the treatment of colorectal cancer.
His research activities are presented in 310 scientific articles and reports in the country and abroad, evaluated by personal Impact Factor – 57, and his total Impact Factor is 97. His publications have been cited in 45 scientific works by other authors in the country and abroad.
Prof. Kolev has participated in the organisation and information provision of the first telesurgery with remote transmission of sound and image for intraoperative remote consultation and real-time broadcasting of a surgical operation in the global Internet environment with teletraining for students and specialists.
Since 2006 he has been a member of the commission for information provision and establishment of a hospital information system at University Hospital “St. Marina". He is involved in a team for software development and introduction of voice recognition methodologies in Bulgarian language for intraoperative management of surgical equipment.
He has participated in the compilation of two textbooks with international cooperation, which are free for use by the students at MU-Varna.
Scientific Publications
Open Access
