Violeta Zhelyazkova

(Senior Assistant, PhD, zoologist)

e-mail:
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9381-2208
ResearchGate ID: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Violeta-Zhelyazkova-2

Education

2017—2021 National Museum of Natural History — Bulgarian Academy of Sciences / University of Montpellier / University of Greifswald; Doctor of Zoology

2014—2016 Sofia University, Master of Genetics and Genomics

2009—2014 Sofia University, Bachelor of Molecular Biology

Research interests

White-nose disease in hibernating bats, pathogen pollution in caves, bat immune system, monitoring and conservation of Bulgarian bats, science communication

Specialisations

2022 Sorbonne University, Centre de Recherche de Cordiliers, postdoctoral fellow

2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Research Science Institute program for talented students, Saudi Arabia; tutor

2015 Pacific Islands Ecosystem Research Center, Big Island of Hawai’I, USA; intern

Completed science communication courses by FameLab Bulgaria and National Geographic Society

Participation in numerous caving expeditions in Bulgaria and abroad

Membership in scientific organisations

Bat Research and Conservation Centre — NMNHS

National Geographic Explorer

Most recent publications

Zhelyazkova, V., Tičar, J., Deleva, S., Ivanov, A., Toshkova, N., Puechmaille, S., 2025. Cavers’ knowledge of biosecurity and its influence on the prevention of white-nose disease. — Subterranean Biology, 52: 45—68.

Toshkova, N., Zhelayzkova, V., Koseva, K., Dimitrova, K., Elshaer, F., Lacombe, R. V., …, Dimitrov, J. D., 2025. An integrative approach for profiling antibody responses in bats to human pathogens. — EMI: Animal & Environment: 1—25.

Fischer, N. M., Dumville, I., Nabholz, B., Zhelyazkova, V., Stecker, R. M., Blomberg, A. S., …, Puechmaille, S. J., 2025. Two distinct host-specialized fungal species cause white-nose disease in bats. — Nature, 1—7.

Zhelyazkova, V., Fischer N., Puechmaille, S., 2024. Bat white-nose disease fungus diversity in time and space. — Biodiversity Data Journal, 12: e109848.

Toshkova, N., Zhelayzkova, V., Reyes-Ruiz, A., Haerens, E., de Castro Deus, M., Lacombe, R. V., …, Dimitrov, J. D., 2024. Temperature sensitivity of bat antibodies links metabolic state of bats with antigen-recognition diversity. — Nature Communications, 15 (1): 5878.

Toshkova, N., Zlatkov, B., Fakirova, A., Zhelyazkova, V., Simov, N., 2022. First record of Psorergatoides Fain, 1959 (Acari, Cheyletoidea, Psorergatidae) for the Balkan Peninsula with description of the cutaneous lesions on the wing membrane of its hosts Myotis myotis (Borkhausen, 1797) and Myotis blythii (Tomes, 1857)(Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae). — Biodiversity Data Journal, 10: e89514.

Toshkova, N, Zhelyazkova, V, Justesen, S, Dimitrov, J., 2022. Conservative pattern of interaction of bat and human IgG antibodies with FcRn. — Developmental & Comparative Immunology, 139: 104579.

Zhelyazkova, V., Hubancheva, A., Radoslavov, G., Toshkova, N., Puechmaille, S. J., 2020. Did you wash your caving suit? Cavers’ role in the potential spread of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of White-Nose Disease. — International Journal of Speleology, 49 (2): 149—159.

Alberdi, A., Razgour, O., Aizpurua, O., Novella-Fernandez, R., Aihartza, J., Budinski, I., Garin, I., Ibáñez, C., Izagirre, E., Rebelo, H., Russo, D., Vlaschenko, A., Zhelyazkova, V., Zrncic, V., Gilbert, T., 2020. Diet diversification shapes broad-scale distribution patterns in European bats. — Nature Communications, 11, 1154. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14961-2

Zhelyazkova, V., Toshkova, N., Dool, S., Bonaccorso, F., Pinzari, C., Montoya-Aiona, K., Puechmaille, S., 2019. Screening and biosecurity for White-nose fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) in Hawaii. — Pacific Science, 73 (3): 357—365. https://doi.org/10.2984/73.3.4

→ More complete list of publications