Academician Petya Vassileva, the only active female academician in Bulgaria

Acad. Vassileva, your working day finished long ago but the queue in front of your office seems endless.
People have many problems. People do not die of ophthalmological disorders but they may go blind, which is the same for us. Blindness is an organ death and for many people it is more dreadful than the natural physical death. This is the hardest form of disability. Especially if this happens to a child, it changes its whole life. Not that the person cannot find fulfillment but everything happens in a different way, which normal people cannot imagine.

You are up all day, your colleagues said you don’t even eat or drink. How can you endure such strain?
Oh, as far back as I can remember I have been crazy about work. In the morning I only drink cocoa with honey and my next meal is in the evening. I eat three times a day only on rest days. I get tired, of course, but I would be even more tired if I did nothing.