Branimir Ayvazov

EDUCATION

College / University

University of Aberdeen

Highest Degree

Bachelor of Science (Honours)

Major Subjects

Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Microbiology

Country

Bulgaria

Lab Experience

Restriction enzyme cloning and Gibson assembly; Site-directed mutagenesis; Protein purification (bacterial transformation and cell culture, affinity, ion-exchange, size-exclusion chromatography); Mammalian cell culture (transfection, cell counting, RNAi, MTT assay); Western blotting; Immunoprecipitation; Gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE, Agarose, Silver staining, Gel purification); Protein/DNA quantification; ELISA; Steady-state kinetic assay; Computational skills (Primer design, Sequence alignment, ImageJ, GraphPad Prism, PyMOL, ChimeraX, Python, C++)

Projects / Research

2023: “Deciphering the effect of PRMT1 on the stability and regulation of ANGEL2” - Prof Javier Martinez, Max Perutz Labs, Austria
2021 – 2022: “Rapid Evolution of Plastic-degrading Enzymes Prevalent in the Global Ocean” - Prof Stefan Arold, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia
2021: “Structural modelling of cohesin/Scc2 preloading complex” (Honours Thesis Project) - Dr Bin Hu, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
2020: “Examining the efficiency of natural anti-tumour compound candidates” – Prof Iva Ugrinova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria

Scholarships / Awards

2023 – 2024:	Stipend by the International Max Planck Research School
2021 – 2022:	Visiting Student Fellowship, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
2021:	STAR (Students Taking Active Roles) Award, the University of Aberdeen
2019:	Academic exchange programme at The Chinese University of Hong Kong

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS AND GOALS

Proteins, being the hard-working constituents of a cell, hold extensive versatility in their functions. Considering how diverse proteins are, I aspire to study how their structure governs their activity and how that activity could be exploited for modifying molecular processes. I am passionate about translational research that addresses environmental issues. For this reason, I am deeply interested in biocatalysis, conducting multi-omic studies of microorganisms to identify novel enzymes and decipher protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions, involved in the developmental regulation and stress response of photosynthetic organisms. My goal is to extend my technical, theoretical and computational expertise to become capable of conducting multidisciplinary research.