Fiztekhbio-2014: results of the conference
The PhystechBio-2014 conference at MIPT gathered world stars in the field of Life Science
On May 29 and 30, Nobel Prize laureates Michael Levitt and Robert Huber gave lectures at MIPT. The delegates were welcomed by representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the head of the city of Dolgoprudny Oleg Troitsky, Hero of Russia cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, the leadership of MIPT. The participants of the Union of Biopharmaceutical Clusters presented reports on the development of scientific and educational centers within the framework of the PHARMA2020 program. The executors of state contracts told about the first results of the development of innovative medicines and medical devices. The issues of international cooperation and the prospects of collaborations were highlighted by specialists from foreign universities. Projects at the intersection of sciences – telemedicine, bioinformatics, robotics – were presented by international research teams, among which there are many graduates of MIPT. About 500 delegates, more than 30 oral and 40 poster presentations – the first results of the IV International Conference of PhystechBio.
The first vice–rector of MIPT - Vice-rector for Scientific Work, Oleg Anatolyevich Gorshkov opened the PhystechBio conference and said that "a lot of attention has been paid to the direction of "living systems" at Phystech recently. In particular, last year a new Faculty of Biological and Medical Physics was established, with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, a building for the Severny Biopharmaceutical Cluster is being built, the MIPT Center for Living Systems was created, designed to combine our efforts in the field of research aimed at specific practical applications of the results of the work."
Professor Andrey Ivashchenko, the head of this structural division of Phystech, told in more detail about the MIPT Center for Living Systems. Among the strategic plans of the Center is the development of the "living systems" direction and the creation of the most modern laboratories in this area. "The MIPT Center for Living Systems is only the first steps to build a continuous innovation system for the introduction of new knowledge on the basis of the university. But it is already clear that this process is doomed to success. The energy and youth of our most talented students and postgraduates, many of whom already have their own startups and businesses, is the core of Russia's healthy economic future. It is amazing how Phys Tech, being a leading technical university, acts as a magnet for both industry and world science," Andrey Ivashchenko said.
The idea of developing living systems at the Technical University was highly appreciated and supported by Professor Michael Levitt. At a press conference after his lecture, he said: "I believe that life science and chemistry are also branches of physics. Let's call it, for example, soft matter physics (soft metaphysics – ed.). And you at MIPT, such a conservative and serious university, are absolutely right that you are trying to expand the ideas of students and scientists about physics. This is not an easy path, because you change people, but it is very significant for the future. I have worked in England, Israel, and spent more than 20 years at Stanford. I see that the greatest number of scientific achievements occur at the intersection of disciplines. Scientists should look at their areas of interest more broadly. I would even say that biology today is applied physics."
A lecture by Robert Huber, a Nobel laureate from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (Germany), opened the second day of the Phys TECHBIO conference. The professor devoted his speech to the crystallography of biomolecules. This direction experienced explosive growth in the 1990s. The crystallography of biomolecules makes it possible to study the structure of proteins and other biomolecules. This, in turn, helps to develop drugs by simulating the interaction of biomolecules and active drug molecules. Currently, these technologies make it possible to create not only medicines. They are also used for other purposes: for example, for the selection of herbicides used to kill weeds in agriculture.
The PhystechBio conference attracted the attention of representatives of state authorities. The welcoming speech from the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Arkady Dvorkovich was read by the Executive Director of the Center for Living Systems Oleg Korzinov. According to Arkady Dvorkovich, "using the example of Phystech, one can see how the modern mission of universities is expanding: attracting leading scientists and building new laboratories, creating engineering centers and, as a result, forming full-fledged university clusters." Alexey Alekhin, Head of the Pharmaceuticals Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, confirmed the Ministry's intention to expand cooperation with MIPT and use its expertise, including for the development of draft regulatory legal acts that stimulate the localization of innovation activities in Russia.
The head of the city of Dolgoprudny, Oleg Troitsky, who attended the Conference of PhystechBio, stressed that Dolgoprudny is one of the youngest and fastest–growing cities in the Moscow region. The concept of its development can be formulated as a "Smart city", and in this regard, cooperation with the leading university of the country is a productive and promising direction. In addition, the city administration is actively involved in the creation of a boarding school of regional significance "Phystech-Lyceum", which will receive the first students in the new building on September 1, 2014.
Raising the prestige of domestic science and education on a par with the modernization of the economy and the creation of high–tech enterprises are the key objectives of the domestic policy of the Russian Federation. Creating an open platform for dialogue between pharmaceutical and medical market participants and scientists is a way to create innovative projects that increase the competitiveness of our country. The unprecedented composition of speakers and the record number of delegates of the IV International Conference of PhystechBio once again confirm that MIPT and the Biopharmaceutical cluster "Severny" have every chance to become a center for the development of the entire Russian science in the field of living systems.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru11.06.2014