Assoc. Prof. Yoana Simeonova, MD

Biography:

Yoana Simeonova successively holds the positions of "assistant" (2019-2021) and "chief assistant" (2021-2023) in the Department of Social Medicine of the Faculty of Public Health, and since 2023 she has been elected as an associate professor. Her professional career began in 2008 at the Medical University of Pleven, where she worked as an assistant and chief assistant until 2019. She is currently the Head of the Department of "Social and Preventive Medicine and MBS". 

Assoc. Prof. Simeonova holds a Master's degree in Healthcare Management. She has two postgraduate degrees: "Medical Informatics and Health Management" (2012) and "Healthcare Economics" (2016). In 2016, she defended her doctoral dissertation. She has participated in over 50 courses and seminars. 

Yoana Simeonova teaches students in the master's and bachelor's programs in 4 specialties at the Faculty of Public Health "Prof. Dr. Tsekomir Vodenicharov, MD" at MU-Sofia, and also participates in teaching Social Medicine to students of Medicine. 

She participates in 2 research projects (one of which she is the head of) and in 7 national and international educational projects. She is the recipient of a number of distinctions and awards for high academic and scientific results, including: first prize in the NPS attestation and the award for the most prominent lecturer at MU-Pleven in 2016. She is a scientific consultant to 10 doctoral students who have defended their dissertations and provides methodological assistance to a number of students.

Assoc. Prof. Simeonova has been a certified quality auditor since 2008 and actively participates in internal audits, the preparation and evaluation of various accreditation procedures. She was an assistant editor of the JBCR magazine, published by MU-Pleven.

Publications and scientific interests:

Assoc. Prof. Simeonova is the author and co-author of 80 scientific publications in Bulgaria and abroad, 2 monographs and textbooks on social medicine, medical sociology, health epidemiology, health promotion. She has participated in over 90 scientific forums, 17 of which abroad. The scientific works of Ioana Simeonova have over 60 citations, some of which by foreign authors. 

Assoc. Prof. Simeonova's scientific interests are in the field of epidemiology of chronic non-communicable diseases, health promotion, health self-assessment, health-related quality of life, and acculturation.

Membership in organizations:

Assoc. Prof. Yoana Simeonova is a member of the Bulgarian Society of Biomedical Engineers, EUPHA and BNDOZ.