Dr. George Nikov Chaldakov born on February 23, 1940, in Burgas, Bulgaria, is a Bulgarian vascular biologist well-known for his contributions in the study of secretory function of vascular smooth muscle cells, and the role of neurotrophins and perivascular adipose tissue in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. He published the first Bulgarian textbook of Cell Biology in 1996 and founded the Bulgarian Society for Cell Biology in 2005. Dr. Chaldakov graduated in 1966 as M.D. from Medical University of Varna, Varna, Bulgaria, where in 1983 he also earned Ph.D. in Vascular Biology, for his thesis "Ultrastructural and cytopharmacological study of aging in vascular smooth muscle cells, with special reference to their secretory function". At present, Dr. Chaldakov is Professor Emeritus at Medical University of Varna and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, Varna, Bulgaria. In the past 50 years, Dr. Chaldakov was involved in an interdisciplinary research in the fields of vascular biology, adipobiology and neurobiology. He is one of the pioneers establishing the novel concept of the secretory function/phenotype of the vascular smooth muscle cells and further delineating their role in atherogenesis. Dr. Chaldakov developed a complex tripartite model of atherogenesis in which are involved smooth muscle cells, immune cells, and perivascular adipose tissue communicating through secreted factors such as neurotrophins, adipokines and cytokines.