Professor Dr. Desislava Ivanova Vankova, DSc, graduated with honors from the English Language High School in her hometown of Burgas in 1987. She is an alumna of the Medical University of Varna, where she obtained her Master's degree in Medicine (MD) in 1993. She holds two medical specialties: Social Medicine and Healthcare Organization (2001) and Medical Pedagogy (2024). In 1999, she earned a second Master's degree in Public Health (MPH) from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, with a thesis on Public Health Human Capacity Building in Bulgaria.
In 2013, she earned a PhD with a dissertation titled Health-Related Quality of Life in the Community. Since 2022, she holds the scientific degree Doctor of Sciences (DSc) with a thesis entitled: Integrative Medicine – A Holistic Conceptual Model, Scientific and Educational Approaches.
Prof. Vankova began her professional career as a physician in an internal medicine ward and has also worked as a general practitioner, emergency doctor, and epidemiologist (from 1994 to 2001). She later joined a large pharmaceutical company, holding various positions until 2015.
Her academic path started in 2000 as a part-time lecturer at the Medical College of Varna. After gaining practical experience in various healthcare fields, she enrolled in a doctoral program in Social Medicine and Organization of Healthcare and Pharmacy in 2011. She became a Senior Assistant in 2016, Associate Professor in 2018, and as of July 2024, she is a Full Professor in the Department of Social Medicine and Healthcare Organization at the Medical University of Varna.
She lectures in courses for students in Medicine (English program), Nursing, Midwifery, Speech Therapy, Physiotherapy, Optometry, Health Management, Healthcare Administration (bachelor's and master's levels), Pharmacy Assistant studies, and more. She is also involved as a lecturer in the innovative master's programs at Medical University–Varna: Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and AI in Biomedicine. She supervises PhD students in Social Medicine and Healthcare Organization and Pharmacy and Public Health Management. She also teaches in medical and public health specialization courses, including serving as the course leader for the core subject Social Medicine and Health Management (in 2022). Since 2015, she has led the Research Department under the Vice Rector of Science and Research.
Prof. Dr. D. Vankova's research and clinical interests include health-related quality of life and health technology assessment; health promotion and healthy lifestyle; integrative and complementary medicine; One Health and antimicrobial resistance; bioethics and medical pedagogy (interactive teaching methods); qualitative research in epidemiology; scientific writing and scientometrics. In connection with her interests, she has completed numerous qualifications and participated as an expert in national and international research projects. She is fluent in English and Russian (spoken and written) and has working knowledge of French.
