San Diego, May 21, 2014 -- Anouchka Mihaylova, a project scientist in the Department of Bioengineering at UC San Diego who was involved in two groups based in the Qualcomm Institute, died on May 17 after being struck by a hit-and-run driver while walking with her husband in Rancho Bernardo. Mihaylova joined the department in 2000, where she was a researcher in the Cardiac Mechanics Laboratory led by bioengineering professor Andrew McCulloch in the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Mihaylova was a key investigator of the National Biomedical Computation Resource (NBCR) and the Pacific Rim Experiences for Undergraduates (PRIME) program, both of which are based in the Qualcomm Institute.
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“She was very brilliant and very kind and gentle,” said McCulloch.
Mihaylova was very active in the PRIME summer undergraduate program that provides summer opportunities for UC San Diego students to study abroad in Pacific Rim countries. “She was an admired and revered mentor to post-doctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students,” said McCulloch. Several PRIME alumni shared how Mihaylova contributed to their positive experiences as undergraduates at UC San Diego.
“Anouchka was my mentor during my time with PRIME in 2004-2005. She was always kind, warm and patient with me as a student and complete novice, and truly dedicated to her work in a way that was contagious to people around her - myself included,” said John Colby, who earned bachelor’s degrees in bioengineering and molecular biology at UC San Diego in 2005. Colby will graduate from the M.D./Ph.D. program at UCLA next week. “I will be thinking of her and her surviving family during this difficult time.”
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The Department of Bioengineering plans to endow an Undergraduate Student Award in Mihaylova’s memory. “Anouchka is survived by her husband and son, to whom we extend our heartfelt sympathies, thoughts and prayers at this time of their terribly sudden and tragic loss,” said McCulloch.
Mihaylova earned a master’s in physics and a Ph.D. in molecular biology and genetics from Sofia University in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Related Links
Cardiac Mechanics Research Lab
Department of Bioengineering
PRIME
National Biomedical Computation Resource
Media Contacts
Catherine Hockmuth, 858-822-1359, chockmuth@ucsd.edu