STAFF PROFILE
Dr Nevena Todorova
Position:
ECDF, Lecturer
College / Portfolio:
School of Engineering Cluster
School / Department:
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Phone:
+61 3 9925 1065
Email:
nevena.todorova@rmit.edu.au
Campus:
Melbourne City Campus
Contact me about:
Research supervision
Research interests
Fundamental understanding of the structure and function of biomolecules and nanomaterials using computer modelling simulations.
Current research projects
- Understanding biomolecular interactions of nanoparticles for engineering efficient nanobiomaterials and devices (ARC Discovery project)
- Theoretical modelling of biomolecular responses to electromagnetic radiation (NHMRC Centre of Excellence: Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research (ACEBR))
- Protein self-assembly on surfaces, interfaces and nanoparticles (ARC Discovery project)
Awards and grants
- Materials Research Society Prize for best presentation at the MRS 2015 Spring Meeting, San Francisco, USA
- High commendation for quality of research and poster presented at the Computational Molecular Science Conference at University of Warwick, United Kingdom, 2015
- RMIT Early Career Researcher Travel Grant, 2014
- RACI Victorian Polymer Division prize for best poster by a Post-doctoral fellow at the Nanotechnology and Medicines for Tomorrow Symposium, Melbourne, 2014
- Australian Nanotechnology Network Early Career Researcher Travel Bursary, 2014
- RMIT Foundation International Research Exchange Fellowship, 2013
- 3rd COMBINE Symposium Presentation Award, 2012
- VLSCI Travel Grant, 2012
- CASS Foundation Early Career Researcher Travel Grant, 2012
- University of Southampton Travel Support, 2011 and 2012
- Thomas Young Centre Junior Research Fellowship, Imperial College, London UK, 2010
- Prize for best poster, Biomolecular Dynamics and Interactions Symposium, Melbourne, Australia, 2009
- Prize for best poster, The 11th Australian Molecular Modelling Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2007
- Australian Postgraduate Award (Industry), 2006-2009
- Mark Rietman Memorial Award, 2005
Conference organisation
- Organising Committee member for the Science and Wireless Public Forum (2014-2017)
- PhD (Applied Physics), 2009
- Title of Project: Theoretical Studies of Molecular Mechanisms of Abnormal Protein Aggregation
- Bachelor of Applied Science (Applied Physics) ( 1st Class Honours), 2005
- Bachelor of Applied Science (Computational Science) with Distinction, 2004
Membership of professional societies
- Australian Society for Biophysics
- Association of Molecular Modellers of Australasia
- Australian Nanotechnology Network
- Materials Research Society
Positions
- Research Fellow, NHMRC Australian Center of Research Excellence in Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research, 2013
- Research Fellow, School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, 2012
- Post-doctoral Fellow, ARC Discovery project, School of Applied Science, 2009-2012
- Wang, S.,Li, Y.,Todorova, N.,Xu, Y.,Mazo, M.,Rana, S.,Leonardo, V.,Amdursky, N.,Spicer, C.,Alexander, B.,Edwards, A.,Matthews, S.,Yarovsky, I.,Stevens, M. (2017). Facet-dependent interactions of islet amyloid polypeptide with gold nanoparticles: Implications for fibril formation and peptide-induced lipid membrane disruption In: Chemistry of Materials, 29, 1550 - 1560
- Todorova, N.,Zlatic, C.,Mao, Y.,Yarovsky, I.,Howlett, G.,Gooley, P.,Griffin, M. (2017). Intra- and intersubunit ion-pair interactions determine the ability of apolipoprotein C-II mutants to form hybrid amyloid fibrils In: Biochemistry, 56, 1757 - 1767
- Peng, E.,Todorova, N.,Yarovsky, I. (2017). Effects of forcefield and sampling method in all-atom simulations of inherently disordered proteins: Application to conformational preferences of human amylin In: PLoS ONE, 12, 1 - 15
- Soh, J.,Lin, Y.,Thomas, M.,Todorova, N.,Kallepitis, C.,Yarovsky, I.,Ying, J.,Stevens, M. (2017). Distinct bimodal roles of aromatic molecules in controlling gold nanorod growth for biosensing In: Advanced Functional Materials, 27, 1 - 9
- Charchar, P.,Christofferson, A.,Todorova, N.,Yarovsky, I. (2016). Understanding and designing the gold-bio interface: insights from simulations In: Small, 12, 2395 - 2418
- Todorova, N.,Bentvelzen, A.,English, N.,Yarovsky, I. (2016). Electromagnetic-field effects on structure and dynamics of amyloidogenic peptides In: Journal of Chemical Physics, 144, 1 - 8
- Mao, Y.,Todorova, N.,Zlatic, C.,Gooley, P.,Griffin, M.,Howlett, G.,Yarovsky, I. (2016). Solution conditions affect the ability of the K30D mutation to prevent amyloid fibril formation by apolipoprotein C-II: insights from experiments and theoretical simulations In: Biochemistry, 55, 3815 - 3824
- Mao, Y.,Zlatic, C.,Griffin, M.,Howlett, G.,Todorova, N.,Yarovsky, I.,Gooley, P. (2015). Hydrogen/deuterium exchange and molecular dynamics analysis of amyloid fibrils formed by a D69K charge-pair mutant of human apolipoprotein C-II In: Biochemistry: including biophysical chemistry and molecular biology, 54, 4805 - 4814
- Andresen, H.,Mager, M.,Griebner, M.,Charchar, P.,Todorova, N.,Bell, N.,Theocharidis, G.,Bertazzo, S.,Yarovsky, I.,Stevens, M. (2014). Single-step homogeneous immunoassays utilizing epitope-tagged gold nanoparticles: On the mechanism, feasibility, and limitations In: Chemistry of Materials, 26, 4696 - 4704
- Makarucha, A.,Todorova, N.,Yarovsky, I. (2014). Effects of graphitic nanomaterials on the dissociation pathway of amyloidogenic peptide dimer In: Proceedings of 2014 International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN), Adelaide, Australia, 2 - 6 February 2014
Note: Supervision projects since 2010
1 PhD Completions2 PhD Current Supervisions and 1 Masters by Research Current Supervisions
Computational modelling of biological molecules (peptides, proteins, membranes) in various environments and conditions (pH, lipids, mutations, nanoparticles) and investigating their folding, misfolding and aggregation behaviour.