top of page

Elka R. Georgieva, PhD (she/her)

Assistant Professor, PI

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at TTU
Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Gilead's Research Scholar in HIV
Adjunct Assistant Professor 
Department of Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics at TTUHSC
Member of the Center for Membrane Protein Research, TTUHSC

Office: 402F, Experimental Science Building 2

Telephone:

E-mail: elgeorgi@ttu.edu

Member of the Deputy Editorial Board of Journal of Structural Biology

(Elka Georgieva, PhD - Editorial Board - Journal of Structural Biology - Journal - Elsevier)

Member of the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports

MEDIA COVERAGE

  • ACERT, Cornell University - Facilitating Modern Biochemistry, Biomedical and Biophysics Research (youtube.com)

  • Texas Tech Researcher Looks to Unlock Fundamental Workings of HIV | February 2024 | Texas Tech Now | TTU

  • Title: New Insights into the Formation of Soluble Oligomers of HIV-1 Vpu Protein (metroamericas.com)

EDUCATION

PhD in Chemistry from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences with Prof. Nicola Yordanov

POSTDOCTORAL TRAINING

(1) Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University with Prof. Astrid Gräslund; (2) Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University with Prof. Jack Freed.

​

POSITIONS

2000-2001 High School Teacher in Chemistry and Physics, Bulgaria

2002-2005 Graduate Researcher, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

2006-2007 Postdoctoral Visiting Scientist, Stockholm University

2007-2010 Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell University

2010-2015 Research Associate, Cornell University

2015-2020 Senior Research Associate, Cornell University

2020- present Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University

2021-present Adjunct Assistant Professor Department of Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics at TTUHSC

​

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS 

  • Gilead's Reasearch Scholar in HIV - 2023 competition winer

  • Royal Society of Chemistry Research Grant (R22-2811992318) – April 2023/March 2024, Elka R. Georgieva PI

              Production and reconstitution in lipid nanoparticles of the EfpA exporter

  • NIAID R03 AI137735 (2018-2021) Elka R. Georgieva PI

Production and functional characterization of the L-lysine exporters from bacterial pathogens

  • Young Investigator Travel Grant, The Protein Society Finn World Travel Award, 24th Annual Symposium of The Protein Society

  • Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Carl Trygger Foundation with Professor Astrid Gräslund, Stockholm University, Sweden, 

  • Ph.D. Predoctoral Fellowship from the Marie Curie Foundation European Commission with Professor Gunnar Jeschke, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany

  • Ph.D. Predoctoral Fellowship from the Marie Curie Foundation European Commission with Professor Dante Gatteschi, University of Florence, Italy

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Protein engineering, Mechanisms of membrane proteins, Molecular mechanisms of virus-host interactions, Membrane proteins in drug development.

​

SERVICE TO PROFESSION

Reviewer for multiple high-impact scientific journals

Topic Board Editor for the open access journal Membranes (MDPI)

Mentoring and advising

​

TEACHING/COURSES

CHEM 3310 (Molecular Biochemistry, Undergraduate course, Spring 2022, Fall 2022)

CHEM 8000 (Dissertation, Spring 2022, Summer 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023)

CHEM 7000 (Research, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Summer 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Summer 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023)

CHEM 3000 (Undergraduate research, Summer 2021, Spring 2023)

CHEM 5337 (Enzymes, Graduate course, Spring 2021, Spring 2023)

CHEM 5336 (Lipids, Graduate course, Fall 2021)

CHEM 5101 (Seminar, Graduate course, Fall 2021)

 

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Md. Majharul Islam

Office: 413C

Telephone:

E-mail: mdmajisl@ttu.edu

Research Project
Structure of membrane proteins and their complexes
Education

Bachelor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2011-2015), Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka1342, Bangladesh (cGPA: 3.76 out of 4.00)

Masters in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2015-2016), Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka1342, Bangladesh (GPA: 3.73 out of 4.00)

Professional Experience 

22016-2017: Research Assistant at the Division of Computer-aided Drug Design, Green Research Centre, BICCB, 38 Green Road West, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

2017-2018: Research Assistant at the Institute of Tissue Banking and Biomaterial Research (ITBBR), Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), Savar, Dhaka-1349, Bangladesh

Jun 2020-Sep 2020: Molecular Biologist at RT-PCR lab. in Faridpur Medical College, Faridpur, Bangladesh

Sep 2020-Mar 2021: Lab Consultant at RT-PCR lab. in Faridpur Medical College, Faridpur, Bangladesh

​

​​

Olamide Ishola

Office: 413C

Telephone:

E-mail: fishola@ttu.edu

Research Project

Mechanisms of Mtb membrane exporters in drug resistance
Education
1. Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, 2011-2015 (CGPA 4.33/5) Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Nigeria.

 2.  Master of Science in Biochemistry, 2021 (73.23% Distinction), University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.

Professional Experience 

·       Research fellow, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria

·       Student Research Intern, Bond Chemicals Pharmaceutical Industry Nigeria

Adeyemi Ogunbowale

Office: 413C

Telephone:

E-mail: aogunbow@ttu.edu

Research Project
Structure, function, and interaction with drugs of membrane proteins encoded by human pathogens
Education

Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, 2016 – 2020 (CGPA – 4.86/5.00) Lagos State University, Lagos state, Nigeria

Professional Experience 

Dec 2018 – May 2019: Undergraduate Intern, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Lagos, Nigeria

Mar 2021 – Mar 2022: Quality Assurance Analyst, Tyonex Nig. Ltd, Lagos, Nigeria

April 2022 – Nov 2022: Graduate Research Intern, The Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos, Nigeria

​

                                                         

                                                       

​

​

​

​

Elaheh Hadadianpour

Office: 413C

Telephone:

E-mail: ehadadia@ttu.edu

Arvin Saffarian Delkhosh

Office: 413C

Telephone:

E-mail: asaffari@ttu.edu

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Spring 2023

Emily Hart

College of Arts & Sciences, TTU

CHEM 3000 student

​

Fall 2022, Spring 2023

Griffin Sanders

College of Arts & Sciences, TTU

Volunteer

​

Fall 2022

Kyle Lee

 

Summer, Fall 2022

Paula Garcia

TTU Undergraduate Biochemistry Student

CISER scholar, TrUE scholar 

​

Summer 2022

Margaret (Maggie) Lee

Biology B.S

College of Arts & Sciences, TTU

Volunteer

​

​

We are looking for interested and motivated undergraduate students to do research with us.

They will join an active project and work with the PI Elka Georgieva, experienced Postdocs and Graduate Students. We will train the students in protein mutagenesis, expression, purification and characterization by biochemical and biophysical methods, as well as data analysis, interpretation and presentation. The undergraduate students trainees will co-author research papers and presentation in the case of substantial contribution.

​

HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS

Summer 2023

Harshith Amaram

Welch Foundation Scholar

​

Fall 2022, Spring 2023

Peter Zhu

Volunteer

 

Summer 2022

Lithasha Selinya

Welch Foundation Scholar

​

THE GEORGIEVA GROUP ALUMNI

​

Dr. Saman Majeed

Current position: University fellow 

Department of Chemistry

North Carolina University at Asheville

bottom of page