Penka M Petrova is the Head of Gene Expression Laboratory at The Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her main interests are in the area of Microbiology and Molecular Biology of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with special attention to probiotic starter cultures development including isolation and genetic characterization of LAB, searching for new enzymatic activities, prebiotics utilization and synthesis, genes cloning and expression. She is the author of more than 50 scientific publications and book chapters, cited more than 430 times. She is a leader of a number of research projects, funded by the National Scientific Fund, Republic of Bulgaria, Chr. Hansen A/S, and State Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology of Bright Dairy & Foods Co. Ltd. Penka M Petrova is the Head of Gene Expression Laboratory at The Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her main interests are in the area of Microbiology and Molecular Biology of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with special attention to probiotic starter cultures development including isolation and genetic characterization of LAB, searching for new enzymatic activities, prebiotics utilization and synthesis, genes cloning and expression. She is the author of more than 50 scientific publications and book chapters, cited more than 430 times. She is a leader of a number of research projects, funded by the National Scientific Fund, Republic of Bulgaria, Chr. Hansen A/S, and State Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology of Bright Dairy & Foods Co. Ltd.

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology