Staff of the Institute constitutes 150 persons, with 80 researchers among them. The research team of the Institute consists of highly qualified specialists, including 1 Associate Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, 27 professors and doctors of sciences, 27 candidates of sciences, 9 doctors bearing higher category.
Organizational structure of the Institute comprizes:
- Top management
- Research departments
- Medical center
- Administrative departments
BACKGROUND AND ACTIVITIES OF THE INSTITUTE
St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology was established in 1992 and has been engaged in research in bioregulation and gerontology. Its basic task is to introduce into the medical practice the results of 20-year experimental and clinical studies of a new class of medicinal substances – peptide bioregulators, which were created in the Research Laboratory of Bioregulators of the S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy.
In 2001 the Institute was integrated into the North-Western Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.
Research activities of the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology of the North-Western Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences are related to:
- fundamental studies, improvement of methods for diagnosis and prognosis of various diseases, development of research and production programmes in bioregulation and gerontology;
- design, clinical study, manufacture and introduction into the clinical practice of medications, state-of-the-art technologies of diagnostics and therapy for the purpose of early diagnostics, prevention and treatment of age-related pathologies;
- propagation of research findings in the field of bioregulation and gerontology (by organizing scientific conferences, publishing research papers etc.)
Presently St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology of the North-Western Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences is the only research institution in the North-Western region of Russia, which is engaged in research on ageing, and at the same time is an active clinical diagnostic center in gerontology and geriatrics.
RESEARCH DEPARTMENTS
The Institute comprises 15 laboratories, which are united in three major departments: the Department of Biogerontology, the Department of Cell Biology and Pathology, and the Department of Clinical Gerontology and Geriatrics. All laboratories are equipped with modern research facilities, providing for high-quality experimental and clinical studies in genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, immunology, physiology, molecular and cell biology, morphology.
Research efforts of the Institute team are concentrated on the following priority directions: studying the mechanisms of ageing; studying the properties and mechanisms of peptide bioregulators effects; design and introduction into clinical practice of new medicinal substances based on peptide bioregulators; studying the markers for in vivo diagnostics of age-related diseases; exploration of demographic aspects of population ageing.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOGERONTOLOGY
Head of the Department – Prof. V.Kh. Khavinson, M.D.,Ph.D.
Associate Member of the Russian Academy
of Medical Sciences
Laboratory of Oncogerontology
(Head – Prof. V.N. Anisimov,M.D., Ph.D.);
Laboratory of Pharmacology of Peptides
(Head – Prof. V.V. Malinin, M.D., Ph.D.);
Laboratory of Biogerontology
(Head – Dr. T.V. Kvetnaya, Ph.D.);
Laboratory for Research on Pharmaceuticals
(Head – Prof. V.K. Osipovich, Ph.D.);
Laboratory of Chemistry of Peptide
(Head – Dr. E.I. Grigoriev, Ph.D.).
Main research efforts of the Department are concentrated on the study of mechanisms of peptidergic regulation of homeostasis in the course of organism ageing. Laboratories within the Department are engaged in the study of molecular mechanisms underlying interaction between peptides and nucleic acids, as well as of geroprotective activities of peptides, of genetic mechanisms of peptide bioregulators’ neuroprotective effect; mechanisms of peptides’ involvement in the enhancement of adaptive capacities in ageing. The research team of the Department performs the comparative analysis of the effects of certain amino acids and small peptides on organotrophic cell cultures, of the effects of peptide bioregulators on psychoemotional status of old and very old persons. The role of peptides and melatonin in the mechanisms of ageing and carcinogenesis is continuously under study. There are performed computer modeling and synthesis of physiologically active peptides with subsequent comprehensive study of their biological properties and ongoing optimization of requirements for the studies of new peptide pharmaceuticals. The search for new biomarkers for in vivo diagnostics of age-related diseases, as well as the assessment of their diagnostic and prognostic value constitute a special issue in the research activities of the Department.
DEPARTMENT OF CELL BIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY
Head of the Department – Prof. I.M. Kvetnoy, Ph.D.
Laboratory of Functional Morphology
(Head – Prof. I.M. Kvetnoy, Ph.D.)
Laboratory of Biochemistry
(Head – Prof. A.V. Arutyunian,Ph.D.)
Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology
(Head – Dr. S.S. Konovalov, Ph.D.)
Laboratory for the Genetics of Ageing
(Head – Prof. V.N. Gorbunova,Ph.D.)
Major research performed at the Department relates to the study of neuroimmunoendocrine mechanisms of ageing. The laboratories of this Department are engaged in molecular-biologic studies of structural and functional organization of diffusal neuroimmunoendocrine system in ageing, as well as of molecular and cellular mechanisms of ageing of the human thymus; functional morphology and biochemistry of human reproductive system in ageing; mechanisms of alteration in organism antioxidation status in ageing; genetic mechanisms of neuroprotective effect of peptide bioregulators; regulatory effects of small synthesized peptides on the differentiation of hemopoietic stem cells. Methods of molecular-genetic diagnostics for the prognosis, optimized prophylaxis and treatment of the most frequently occurring multifactorial diseases in different age groups are designed. Genetic predisposition to certain multifactorial diseases may be identified using the methods developed in this Department.
DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS
Head of the Department – Prof. K.L. Kozlov, M.D.,Ph.D.
Laboratory of Age-Related Clinical Pathology
(Head – Prof. G.A. Ryzhak, M.D., Ph.D.)
Laboratory of Demography of Ageing
(Head – Dr. G.L. Safarova, Ph.D.)
Laboratory of Urogenital System Pathologies
(Head – Dr. V.Kh. Kheyfets, Ph.D.)
Laboratory of Ophthalmology
(Head – Dr. S.V. Trofimova, M.D., Ph.D.)
Laboratory of Preventive Medicine
(Head – Dr. A.S. Bashkireva, Ph.D.)
Main research activities of this Department are focused on studying the pathogenesis, as well as the optimization of diagnostics and therapy of age-related diseases. The laboratories of this Department are engaged in the study of peptidergic prophylaxis and treatment of different diseases of the human retina (diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, degenerative and inflammatory lesions of the retina); morphogenesis and new methods of diagnosis and treatment of age-related tumors in the urogenital system; prophylactic methods involving peptide bioregulators for the correction of pathologies, for the improvement of intellectual and physical working capacity in persons from different age groups working under adverse conditions. The methods of complex treatment for cardiology patients of older age groups such as angiography and interventional arterioplastics, as well as non-invasive methods of cardio- and angioplastics are also designed and improved by the research team of this Department. The study of demographic aspects of population ageing is a separate direction of studies in this Department.
