From 18 to 21 of October the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI has held the First International Symposium “Physics, Engineering and Technologies for Biomedicine”, which brought together leading scientists and specialists in Nuclear medicine, Biophysics, Biophotonics and new related areas of science. The Symposium was organized by MEPhI Institute of Engineering Physics for Biomedicine under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Health, the State Corporation “Rosatom” and the Nuclear Physics European Collaboration Committe.
Opening the event, the rector of MEPhI M.N. Strikhanov noted that the field of Biomedicine is new to the University, but at the same time it is one of the most important in the development process. “Recently we have created a special Institute and hope that it will have synergistic effect from the combination of physics, chemistry, engineering and biomedicine,” said the rector. “Students of the Institute will be not ordinary doctors but specialists who will be proficient in related fields that are important in the health sector”. Then Mikhail Strikhanov presented the honorary guests of the Symposium, including a co-Director of the FAIR-Russia Research Center Professor Hans Gutbrod, who acted as the author of the idea to hold such event in MEPhI.
Welcoming remarks to the audience were made by the representative of the Federal Biomedical Agency (FMBA) Sergey Belyaev. “Long-standing and fruitful bonds of cooperation link the Federal Biomedical Agency and MEPhI. Thanks to it regional divisions of the University have opened medical Faculties that allowed to prepare highly qualified specialists able to develop and apply modern technologies and systems in the student's practice,” said Sergey Belyaev, noting the unique cooperation, since many medical institutions of FMBA are the clinical bases for students of MEPhI.
The floor was given to the distinguished Professor Paras Prasad from the State University at Buffalo, who expressed hope for conducting similar conferences in future, which works at the intersection of physics, engineering, medicine and biomedicine, and also noted presence of a large number of young scientists involved in such important social sphere at the conference. Then he moved on to a lecture on “Nanomedicine and Neurophotonics: current achievements, challenges and opportunities”.
In the framework of Symposium eminent scientists delivered lectures on different topics: modern and perspective methods of diagnostics, isotopes for medicine, brachytherapy, proton and ion therapy, immunotherapy, nanomaterials for biomedicine, new technologies and methods of medical imaging, modern techniques of MRI and PET, plasma and laser technology for biomedicine, effects of radiation action in biology and medicine, and biophotonics in diagnostics and therapy. The reports aroused the interest of the audience, listeners asked a lot of questions exchanging experiences and opinions.
It worth to note speeches of prominent scientists and physicians: scientific Director of the MEPhI Institute of Engineering Physics for Biomedicine Andrey Kabashin (CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, France), Deputy Director of the Research Institute of Neurosurgery (Russia) Igor Pronin, Thomas Haberer (Heidelberg Ion Therapy Centre HIT, Germany), Valery Krylov (A.F. Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Center), etc. Notably famous scientists – leaders in the field of nanobioengineering and bionanophotonics: Igor Nabiev, Gleb Sukhorukov, Viktor Loschenov, Andrey Zvyagin, Sergey Deev, Igor Meglinski, who represented research groups from Russia, UK, France, Australia, Finland and other countries. Their joint participation in the Symposium allowed to highlight the main development trends, confirm the relevance of research areas of the MEPhI Biomedical Institute and to organize a powerful scientific cooperation in this breakthrough area.
Later Professor Paras Prasad shared his impressions of time in MEPhI:
“I am very impressed with symposium, the people – speakers, who came here. They spoke on different aspects of how physics in combination with biomedicine and nuclear science can make amazing impact in health care. Such integration together will be a really important step in advancement of modern medicine both in Russia and worldwide.
I think the stage of development in Russia really needs to bring together the medical community and basic science and engineering. Only by working together they can address the real disease issues and health care issues. And I would like to encourage development of that aspect.”
Talking about key to his success in the scientific sphere, Paras Prasad mentioned enthusiasm for what he is doing. It is not about the number of articles, which he is undoubtedly proud of, but about their significance, what a positive impact they will have on society. According to the Professor, one component of success is the dedication and passion, the other is management. You need to have a rest, have a social life. To succeed there should be the necessary balance and focus on what you do best.
Speaking of inspiration, he pointed to nature as the source: “Nature was one thing that taught me a lot. For example I became interested in light, effect it has on all of us. Then I was fascinated by colours – butterflies, other things… And that is where nanotechnology comes in. I learned a lot from nature.”
Talking about an example to follow Paras Prasad supposed that everybody probably could say about scientists like Einstein or someone else but in his mind there are the people who work under very poor conditions like Professor C.V. Raman in India. He worked without lasers and high-power devices, but with the help of simple tools discovered the very weak effect for which he received the Nobel Prize. “It was very inspirational. So the first thing is to have a big dream and imagination. Second thing is to be very innovative and see what you have and what can be done,” concluded Professor.
At the moment Paras Prasad is involved in brain research and is passionate about how it is possible to determine mental condition or dysfunction of the brain caused by sleep disorder, stress, brain injury or of a child born with autism, retardation. “So my dream is to study cognitive deficiency from the initial stage of brain formation beginning in the embryo stage to the aged, which will contribute to the health and wellness of mind throughout the life,” said Professor Paras Prasad.
Closing the First International Symposium “Physics, Engineering and Technologies for Biomedicine” participants summed up and decided to hold the event annually, expanding the part of the participants from foreign and Russian universities and medical institutions and attracting more young researchers.
