![Dobril Ivanov](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/2466?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Dobril Ivanov
Sêr Cymru II Fellow, Dementia Research Institute
- IvanovD1@cardiff.ac.uk
- Hadyn Ellis Building, Room 1st floor, office 9, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
Overview
With a background in molecular biology, genetics and biostatistics/bioinformatics, Dr Dobril Ivanov joined the UK DRI at Cardiff with a Sêr Cymru Rising Star fellowship by the ERDF through the Welsh Government.
Dobril did an MSc in molecular biology followed by a wet-lab scholarship to study neurodevelopmental disorders at the MRC Centre in Cardiff. This project was one of the earliest to accurately estimate the frequency of VCFS deletions in patients with psychosis (https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.183.5.409).
Dr Ivanov obtained his PhD in bioinformatics from Cardiff University in 2010, with one of the first studies to fully explore the similarities and differences of germline/somatic mutations in human tumour suppressor genes in a variety of cancers (https://doi.org/10.1002/humu.21483). During his first postdoc (MRC CNGG Cardiff University) he developed a novel computational approach that led to the observation that rare CNVs substantially increase one's susceptibility to developing schizophrenia (https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2011.154).
Dr Ivanov completed his postdoctoral training at the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge in Prof. Janet Thornton's group investigating neurodegenerative disorders and signalling mechanisms and biochemical processes by which insulin/IGF-1 signalling modulates lifespan in model organisms (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2016.03.041 ). As a UK DRI Emerging Leader, Dr Ivanov leads research to link gene-expression profiles to a wide-range of Alzheimer-related phenotypes in humans, animal and iPSC models.
Publication
2022
- Crawford, K. et al. 2022. Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial function implicated in Alzheimer's disease through polygenic risk and RNA sequencing. Molecular Psychiatry (10.1038/s41380-022-01926-8)
- Crawford, K. et al. 2022. Analysis of Alzheimer's disease Polygenic Risk Scores using RNA-sequencing provides further novel biological pathways. [Online]. medRxiv: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. (10.1101/2022.06.29.22276952) Available at: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.29.22276952
- Martin-Flores, N., Podpolny, M., McLeod, F., Crawford, K., Ivanov, D., Escott-Price, V. and Salinas, P. 2022. Restoring synapse integrity and memory in Alzheimer’s disease by downregulation of the Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-3. [Online]. bioRxiv: bioRxiv. (10.1101/2022.06.16.495307) Available at: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.16.495307v1
2021
- Bolukbasi, E. et al. 2021. Cell type-specific modulation of healthspan by Forkhead family transcription factors in the nervous system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(8), article number: e2011491118. (10.1073/pnas.2011491118)
- Niccoli, T. et al. 2021. Activating transcription factor 4-dependent lactate dehydrogenase activation as a protective response to amyloid beta toxicity. Brain Communications 3(2), article number: fcab053. (10.1093/braincomms/fcab053)
- Katzourou, I. et al. 2021. Cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease is not associated with APOE. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 84(1), pp. 141-149. (10.3233/jad-210685)
- Rowe, T., Katzourou, I., Stevenson-Hoare, J., Bracher-Smith, M., Ivanov, D. and Escott-Price, V. 2021. Machine learning for the life-time risk prediction of Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review. Brain Communications 3(4), article number: fcab246. (10.1093/braincomms/fcab246)
2020
- Ivanov, D., Bostelmann, G., Lan-Leung, B., Williams, J., Partridge, L., Escott-Price, V. and Thornton, J. 2020. A novel computational approach for predicting complex phenotypes in Drosophila (starvation-sensitive and sterile) by deriving their gene expression signatures from public data. PLoS ONE 15(10), article number: e0240824. (10.1371/journal.pone.0240824)
2019
- Baker, E. et al. 2019. Gene-based analysis in HRC imputed genome wide association data identifies three novel genes for Alzheimer’s disease. PLoS ONE 14(7), article number: e0218111. (10.1371/journal.pone.0218111)
2017
- Bolukbasi, E. et al. 2017. Intestinal Fork Head Regulates Nutrient Absorption and Promotes Longevity.. Cell Reports 21(3), pp. 641-653. (10.1016/j.celrep.2017.09.042)
- Ziehm, M., Kaur, S., Ivanov, D. K., Ballester, P. J., Marcus, D., Partridge, L. and Thornton, J. M. 2017. Drug repurposing for aging research using model organisms.. Aging Cell 16(5), pp. 1006-1015. (10.1111/acel.12626)
- Kerr, F. et al. 2017. Direct Keap1-Nrf2 disruption as a potential therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease.. PLoS Genetics 13(3), article number: e1006593. (10.1371/journal.pgen.1006593)
2016
- Castillo-Quan, J. I. et al. 2016. Lithium promotes longevity through GSK3/NRF2-dependent hormesis.. Cell Reports 15(3), pp. 638-650. (10.1016/j.celrep.2016.03.041)
2015
- Ivanov, D. K., Escott-Price, V., Ziehm, M., Magwire, M. M., Mackay, T. F. C., Partridge, L. and Thornton, J. M. 2015. Longevity GWAS using the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel. Journals of Gerontology, Series A 70(12), pp. 1470-1478. (10.1093/gerona/glv047)
- Ziehm, M., Ivanov, D. K., Bhat, A., Partridge, L. and Thornton, J. M. 2015. SurvCurv database and online survival analysis platform update.. Bioinformatics 31(23), pp. 3878–3880. (10.1093/bioinformatics/btv463)
2013
- Ivanov, D. K., Papatheodorou, I., Ziehm, M. and Thornton, J. 2013. Transcriptional feedback in the insulin signalling pathway modulates ageing in both Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. Molecular BioSystems 9(7), pp. 1756-1764. (10.1039/c3mb25485b)
- Guha, S. et al. 2013. Implication of a rare deletion at distal 16p11.2 in schizophrenia. JAMA Psychiatry 70(3), pp. 253-260. (10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.71)
- Chapman, J. et al. 2013. A genome-wide study shows a limited contribution of rare copy number variants to Alzheimer's disease risk. Human Molecular Genetics 22(4), pp. 816-824. (10.1093/hmg/dds476)
- Fidalgo, S., Ivanov, D. and Wood, S. 2013. Serotonin: From top to bottom. Biogerontology 14(1), pp. 21-45. (10.1007/s10522-012-9406-3)
2012
- Hollingworth, P. et al. 2012. Genome-wide association study of Alzheimer's disease with psychotic symptoms. Molecular Psychiatry 17(12), pp. 1316-1327. (10.1038/mp.2011.125)
- Kirov, G. et al. 2012. De novo CNV analysis implicates specific abnormalities of postsynaptic signalling complexes in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Molecular Psychiatry 17(2), pp. 142-153. (10.1038/mp.2011.154)
- Gerrish, A. et al. 2012. The role of variation at AβPP, PSEN1, PSEN2, and MAPT in late onset Alzheimer's Disease. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 28(2), pp. 377-387. (10.3233/JAD-2011-110824)
2011
- Ivanov, D., Hamby, S. E., Stenson, P. D., Phillips, A. D., Kehrer-Sawatzki, H., Cooper, D. N. and Chuzhanova, N. 2011. Comparative analysis of germline and somatic microlesion mutational spectra in 17 human tumor suppressor genes. Human Mutation 32(6), pp. 620-632. (10.1002/humu.21483)
- Hollingworth, P. et al. 2011. Common variants at ABCA7, MS4A6A/MS4A4E, EPHA1, CD33 and CD2AP are associated with Alzheimer's disease. Nature Genetics 43(5), pp. 429-435. (10.1038/ng.803)
- Ikeda, M. et al. 2011. Genome-Wide Association Study of Schizophrenia in a Japanese Population. Biological Psychiatry 69(5), pp. 472-478. (10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.07.010)
- Sims, R. et al. 2011. No evidence that extended tracts of homozygosity are associated with Alzheimer's disease. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics 156(7), pp. 764-771. (10.1002/ajmg.b.31216)
2010
- Jones, L. et al. 2010. Genetic evidence implicates the immune system and cholesterol metabolism in the aetiology of Alzheimer's disease. PLoS ONE 5(11), article number: e13950. (10.1371/journal.pone.0013950)
- Escott-Price, V. et al. 2010. Genetic differences between five European populations. Human Heredity 70(2), pp. 141-149. (10.1159/000313854)
- Grozeva, D. et al. 2010. Rare copy number variants: A point of rarity in genetic risk for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 67(4), pp. 318-327. (10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.25)
2009
- Kirov, G. et al. 2009. Support for the involvement of large copy number variants in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Human Molecular Genetics 18(8), pp. 1497-1503. (10.1093/hmg/ddp043)
- Ivanov, D. 2009. Comparative analysis of germline and somatic micro-lesion mutational spectra in 17 human tumour suppressor genes. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
2008
- Georgieva, L. et al. 2008. Support for Neuregulin 1 as a susceptibility gene for Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Biological psychiatry 64(5), pp. 419-427. (10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.03.025)
- Mort, M. E., Ivanov, D., Cooper, D. N. and Chuzhanova, N. 2008. A meta-analysis of nonsense mutations causing human genetic disease. Human Mutation 29(8), pp. 1037-1047. (10.1002/humu.20763)
2006
- Georgieva, L. et al. 2006. Convergent evidence that oligodendrocyte lineage transcription factor 2 (OLIG2) and interacting genes influence susceptibility to schizophrenia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) ISSN 1091-6490 103(33), pp. 12469-12474. (10.1073/pnas.0603029103)
2005
- Norton, N. et al. 2005. No evidence for association between polymorphisms in GRM3 and schizophrenia. BMC Psychiatry 5, article number: 23. (10.1186/1471-244X-5-23)
2004
- Morris, D. et al. 2004. Association analysis of two candidate phospholipase genes that map to the chromosome 15q15.1-15.3 region associated with reading disability. American Journal Of Medical Genetics Part A 129B(1), pp. 97-103. (10.1002/ajmg.b.30033)
- Kirov, G. et al. 2004. Strong evidence for association between the dystrobrevin binding protein 1 gene (DTNBP1) and schizophrenia in 488 parent-offspring trios from Bulgaria. Biological psychiatry 55(10), pp. 971-975. (10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.01.025)
2003
- Ivanov, D. et al. 2003. Chromosome 22q11 deletions, velo-cardio-facial syndrome and early-onset psychosis: Molecular genetic study. The British Journal of Psychiatry 183(5), pp. 409-413. (10.1192/bjp.183.5.409)
- Williams, H. J. et al. 2003. Association between PRODH and schizophrenia is not confirmed. Molecular Psychiatry 8(7), pp. 644-645. (10.1038/sj.mp.4001276)
Articles
- Crawford, K. et al. 2022. Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial function implicated in Alzheimer's disease through polygenic risk and RNA sequencing. Molecular Psychiatry (10.1038/s41380-022-01926-8)
- Bolukbasi, E. et al. 2021. Cell type-specific modulation of healthspan by Forkhead family transcription factors in the nervous system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(8), article number: e2011491118. (10.1073/pnas.2011491118)
- Niccoli, T. et al. 2021. Activating transcription factor 4-dependent lactate dehydrogenase activation as a protective response to amyloid beta toxicity. Brain Communications 3(2), article number: fcab053. (10.1093/braincomms/fcab053)
- Katzourou, I. et al. 2021. Cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease is not associated with APOE. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 84(1), pp. 141-149. (10.3233/jad-210685)
- Rowe, T., Katzourou, I., Stevenson-Hoare, J., Bracher-Smith, M., Ivanov, D. and Escott-Price, V. 2021. Machine learning for the life-time risk prediction of Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review. Brain Communications 3(4), article number: fcab246. (10.1093/braincomms/fcab246)
- Ivanov, D., Bostelmann, G., Lan-Leung, B., Williams, J., Partridge, L., Escott-Price, V. and Thornton, J. 2020. A novel computational approach for predicting complex phenotypes in Drosophila (starvation-sensitive and sterile) by deriving their gene expression signatures from public data. PLoS ONE 15(10), article number: e0240824. (10.1371/journal.pone.0240824)
- Baker, E. et al. 2019. Gene-based analysis in HRC imputed genome wide association data identifies three novel genes for Alzheimer’s disease. PLoS ONE 14(7), article number: e0218111. (10.1371/journal.pone.0218111)
- Bolukbasi, E. et al. 2017. Intestinal Fork Head Regulates Nutrient Absorption and Promotes Longevity.. Cell Reports 21(3), pp. 641-653. (10.1016/j.celrep.2017.09.042)
- Ziehm, M., Kaur, S., Ivanov, D. K., Ballester, P. J., Marcus, D., Partridge, L. and Thornton, J. M. 2017. Drug repurposing for aging research using model organisms.. Aging Cell 16(5), pp. 1006-1015. (10.1111/acel.12626)
- Kerr, F. et al. 2017. Direct Keap1-Nrf2 disruption as a potential therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease.. PLoS Genetics 13(3), article number: e1006593. (10.1371/journal.pgen.1006593)
- Castillo-Quan, J. I. et al. 2016. Lithium promotes longevity through GSK3/NRF2-dependent hormesis.. Cell Reports 15(3), pp. 638-650. (10.1016/j.celrep.2016.03.041)
- Ivanov, D. K., Escott-Price, V., Ziehm, M., Magwire, M. M., Mackay, T. F. C., Partridge, L. and Thornton, J. M. 2015. Longevity GWAS using the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel. Journals of Gerontology, Series A 70(12), pp. 1470-1478. (10.1093/gerona/glv047)
- Ziehm, M., Ivanov, D. K., Bhat, A., Partridge, L. and Thornton, J. M. 2015. SurvCurv database and online survival analysis platform update.. Bioinformatics 31(23), pp. 3878–3880. (10.1093/bioinformatics/btv463)
- Ivanov, D. K., Papatheodorou, I., Ziehm, M. and Thornton, J. 2013. Transcriptional feedback in the insulin signalling pathway modulates ageing in both Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. Molecular BioSystems 9(7), pp. 1756-1764. (10.1039/c3mb25485b)
- Guha, S. et al. 2013. Implication of a rare deletion at distal 16p11.2 in schizophrenia. JAMA Psychiatry 70(3), pp. 253-260. (10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.71)
- Chapman, J. et al. 2013. A genome-wide study shows a limited contribution of rare copy number variants to Alzheimer's disease risk. Human Molecular Genetics 22(4), pp. 816-824. (10.1093/hmg/dds476)
- Fidalgo, S., Ivanov, D. and Wood, S. 2013. Serotonin: From top to bottom. Biogerontology 14(1), pp. 21-45. (10.1007/s10522-012-9406-3)
- Hollingworth, P. et al. 2012. Genome-wide association study of Alzheimer's disease with psychotic symptoms. Molecular Psychiatry 17(12), pp. 1316-1327. (10.1038/mp.2011.125)
- Kirov, G. et al. 2012. De novo CNV analysis implicates specific abnormalities of postsynaptic signalling complexes in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Molecular Psychiatry 17(2), pp. 142-153. (10.1038/mp.2011.154)
- Gerrish, A. et al. 2012. The role of variation at AβPP, PSEN1, PSEN2, and MAPT in late onset Alzheimer's Disease. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 28(2), pp. 377-387. (10.3233/JAD-2011-110824)
- Ivanov, D., Hamby, S. E., Stenson, P. D., Phillips, A. D., Kehrer-Sawatzki, H., Cooper, D. N. and Chuzhanova, N. 2011. Comparative analysis of germline and somatic microlesion mutational spectra in 17 human tumor suppressor genes. Human Mutation 32(6), pp. 620-632. (10.1002/humu.21483)
- Hollingworth, P. et al. 2011. Common variants at ABCA7, MS4A6A/MS4A4E, EPHA1, CD33 and CD2AP are associated with Alzheimer's disease. Nature Genetics 43(5), pp. 429-435. (10.1038/ng.803)
- Ikeda, M. et al. 2011. Genome-Wide Association Study of Schizophrenia in a Japanese Population. Biological Psychiatry 69(5), pp. 472-478. (10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.07.010)
- Sims, R. et al. 2011. No evidence that extended tracts of homozygosity are associated with Alzheimer's disease. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics 156(7), pp. 764-771. (10.1002/ajmg.b.31216)
- Jones, L. et al. 2010. Genetic evidence implicates the immune system and cholesterol metabolism in the aetiology of Alzheimer's disease. PLoS ONE 5(11), article number: e13950. (10.1371/journal.pone.0013950)
- Escott-Price, V. et al. 2010. Genetic differences between five European populations. Human Heredity 70(2), pp. 141-149. (10.1159/000313854)
- Grozeva, D. et al. 2010. Rare copy number variants: A point of rarity in genetic risk for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 67(4), pp. 318-327. (10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.25)
- Kirov, G. et al. 2009. Support for the involvement of large copy number variants in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Human Molecular Genetics 18(8), pp. 1497-1503. (10.1093/hmg/ddp043)
- Georgieva, L. et al. 2008. Support for Neuregulin 1 as a susceptibility gene for Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Biological psychiatry 64(5), pp. 419-427. (10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.03.025)
- Mort, M. E., Ivanov, D., Cooper, D. N. and Chuzhanova, N. 2008. A meta-analysis of nonsense mutations causing human genetic disease. Human Mutation 29(8), pp. 1037-1047. (10.1002/humu.20763)
- Georgieva, L. et al. 2006. Convergent evidence that oligodendrocyte lineage transcription factor 2 (OLIG2) and interacting genes influence susceptibility to schizophrenia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) ISSN 1091-6490 103(33), pp. 12469-12474. (10.1073/pnas.0603029103)
- Norton, N. et al. 2005. No evidence for association between polymorphisms in GRM3 and schizophrenia. BMC Psychiatry 5, article number: 23. (10.1186/1471-244X-5-23)
- Morris, D. et al. 2004. Association analysis of two candidate phospholipase genes that map to the chromosome 15q15.1-15.3 region associated with reading disability. American Journal Of Medical Genetics Part A 129B(1), pp. 97-103. (10.1002/ajmg.b.30033)
- Kirov, G. et al. 2004. Strong evidence for association between the dystrobrevin binding protein 1 gene (DTNBP1) and schizophrenia in 488 parent-offspring trios from Bulgaria. Biological psychiatry 55(10), pp. 971-975. (10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.01.025)
- Ivanov, D. et al. 2003. Chromosome 22q11 deletions, velo-cardio-facial syndrome and early-onset psychosis: Molecular genetic study. The British Journal of Psychiatry 183(5), pp. 409-413. (10.1192/bjp.183.5.409)
- Williams, H. J. et al. 2003. Association between PRODH and schizophrenia is not confirmed. Molecular Psychiatry 8(7), pp. 644-645. (10.1038/sj.mp.4001276)
Thesis
- Ivanov, D. 2009. Comparative analysis of germline and somatic micro-lesion mutational spectra in 17 human tumour suppressor genes. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
Websites
- Crawford, K. et al. 2022. Analysis of Alzheimer's disease Polygenic Risk Scores using RNA-sequencing provides further novel biological pathways. [Online]. medRxiv: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. (10.1101/2022.06.29.22276952) Available at: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.29.22276952
- Martin-Flores, N., Podpolny, M., McLeod, F., Crawford, K., Ivanov, D., Escott-Price, V. and Salinas, P. 2022. Restoring synapse integrity and memory in Alzheimer’s disease by downregulation of the Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-3. [Online]. bioRxiv: bioRxiv. (10.1101/2022.06.16.495307) Available at: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.16.495307v1
Teaching
2008 - 2011 Module leader of "Introduction to statistical approaches in life sciences" (postgraduate course, MSc module, MRC Centre in Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University)
Biography
Previous Academic Positions
2018 - present: The Welsh Government Sêr Cymru II "Rising Star" fellow (UK Dementia Research Institute @ Cardiff University)
2012 - 2018: Postdoctoral Fellow - Thornton group (EMBL-EBI , European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge)
2011 - 2012: Research Associate in Bioinformatics (Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Unit, MRC Centre in Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University)
2008 - 2011: Research Associate in Statistical Genetics (Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Unit, MRC Centre in Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University)
2005 - 2010: PhD in Bioinformatics/Biostatistics ("Comparative analysis of Germline and Somatic micro-lesion mutational spectra in 17 human tumour-suppressor genes", Institute of Medical Genetics, Cardiff University)
2003 - 2005: Research Assistant (Department of Psychological Medicine and Neurology; MRC Centre in Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University)
2002 - 2003: Visiting Scholarship (Study on Juvenile Onset Psychosis, Cardiff University)
Honours and awards
2021: Emerging leader status (UK Dementia Research Institute)
2018 - present: The Welsh Government Sêr Cymru II "Rising Star" fellowship (Deconvoluting the Dementia Phenotype Using Functional Genomics and Computational Approaches)
2015: Experimental validation of lifespan extension of GWAS top hits (EMBL-EBI)
2011: Early Career Researcher Award (BSRA)
2002 - 2003: Visiting Scholarship, Study on Juvenile Onset Psychosis (Cardiff University)
Professional memberships
2018 - present: Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK) Wales Network member
2016 - present: British Society of Research on Ageing (BSRA) member