STAFF PROFILE
Dr Nevena Todorova
Position:
Senior Lecturer
College / Portfolio:
School of Engineering Cluster
School / Department:
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Phone:
99251065
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
- Todorova, N.,Bentvelzen, A.,Yarovsky, I. (2020). Electromagnetic field modulates aggregation propensity of amyloid peptides In: Journal of Chemical Physics, 152, 1 - 10
- Todorova, N.,Yarovsky, I. (2019). The Enigma of Amyloid Forming Proteins: Insights from Molecular Simulations In: Australian Journal of Chemistry: An International Journal for Chemical Science, , 1 - 11
- Christofferson, A.,Al-Garawi, Z.,Todorova, N.,Turner, J.,Del Borgo, M.,Serpell, L.,Aguilar, M.,Yarovsky, I. (2018). Identifying the Coiled-Coil Triple Helix Structure of �-Peptide Nanofibers at Atomic Resolution In: ACS Nano, 12, 9101 - 9109
- Peng, E.,Todorova, N.,Yarovsky, I. (2018). Effects of Size and Functionalization on the Structure and Properties of Graphene Oxide Nanoflakes: An in Silico Investigatio In: ACSOmega, 3, 11497 - 11503
- Zlatic, C.,Mao, Y.,Todorova, N.,Mok, Y.,Howlett, G.,Yarovsky, I.,Gooley, P.,Griffin, M. (2018). Polymorphism in disease-related apolipoprotein C-II amyloid fibrils: a structural model for rod-like fibrils In: FEBS Journal, 285, 2799 - 2812
- Lin, Y.,Charchar, P.,Christofferson, A.,Thomas, M.,Todorova, N.,Mazo, M.,Chen, Q.,Doutch, J.,Richardson, R.,Yarovsky, I.,Stevens, M. (2018). Surface Dynamics and Ligand-Core Interactions of Quantum Sized Photoluminescent Gold Nanoclusters In: Journal of the American Chemical Society, 140, 18217 - 18226
- 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
Note: Supervision projects since 2010
1 PhD Current Supervisions2 PhD Completions and 1 Masters by Research Completions
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.