Bulletin of RSMU

Editorial Board

Raisa I YAKUBOVSKAYA

Head of the Department of Modifiers and Protectors of Anticancer Therapy,
P. Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Institute (Moscow, Russia)

DSc (biology), professor

Areas of expertise:

pathogenetic mechanisms of cancer, development of drugs for anti-cancer and supporting therapy considering the pathogenesis of the disease: experimental studies of physical, chemical, biological and pharmacological properties of drugs and their pharmacokinetics and safety based on the assessment of acute, chronic and specific toxicity

Special awards and honors:

Government of the Russian Federation Award for the experimental clinical study of Radiomodifiers as the main way to improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy of malignant tumors (1998)
Government of the Russian Federation Award for the development and introduction of fluorescence-based diagnostic technology and photodynamic therapy into routine oncology (2012)

ABOUT SCIENCE:

What can be more exciting and thrilling than new knowledge or attempts to reflect on it or include it into the existing context and then move forward? Oncology is a field in which a researcher finds his most difficult and noble tasks: to understand the process of malignant transformation and then to contribute this knowledge to improving diagnostic and treatment methods, a goal we all share.

Fortunately, I witnessed how oncology, which relied on the description of signs and symptoms only 30 or 40 years ago, gradually transformed into a science based on molecular genetics research. I think that we still have a long way to go before we decypher all pathogenic mechanisms that trigger cancer and learn to control them. But I believe that it is possible.

I think that before deciding to set your foot on the path of science, you have to listen to yourself and try to answer some questions, like: “What do I want? Does it interest me to thoroughly investigate the problem on various levels of biological organization (organism, tissue, cell, and molecule)? Do I like reading scientific literature? Do I like and will I be able to solve difficult tasks when there are so many simple and attractive things around me? What scientific field seems to be the most appealing to me? Where can I find specialists who work in this field?” Be honest and determined, and you will succeed.

Significant publications in last 5 years

Bezborodova OA, Nemtsova ER, Gevorkov AR, Boyko AV, Venediktova JB, Alekseenko IV, Kostina MB, Monastyrskaya GS, Sverdlov ED, Khmelevskiy EV, Yakubovskaya RI. Antitumor efficacy of combined gene and radiotherapy in animals. Dokl Biochem Biophys. 2016 Sep; 470 (1): 345–
Bezborodova OA, Nemtsova ER, Yakubovskaya RI, Kaprin AD. [Gene therapy is a new area in medicine]. Onkologiya. Zhurnal imeni P. A. Gertsena. 2016; 5 (2): 64–72 Russian.
Alekseenko IV, Snezhkov EV, Chernov IP, Pleshkan VV, Potapov VK, Sass AV, Monastyrskaya GS, Kopantzev EP, Vinogradova TV, Khramtsov YuV, Ulasov AV, Rosenkranz AA, Sobolev AS, Bezborodova OA, Plyutinskaya AD, Nemtsova ER, Yakubovskaya RI, et al. Therapeutic properties of a vector carrying the HSV thymidine kinase and GM-CSF genes and delivered as a complex with a cationic copolymer. J Transl Med. 2015 Mar 4; 13 (1): 78–89. DOI: 10.1186/s12967-015-0433-0.
Yakubovskaya RI, Plotnikova EA, Plyutinskaya AD, Morozova NB, Chissov VI, Makarova EA, et al. Photophysical properties and in vitro and in vivo photoinduced antitumor activity of cationic salts of meso-tetrakis(N-alkyl-3-pyridyl)bacteriochlorins. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2014 Jan 5; 130: 109–14.
Mironov AF, Grin MA, Reshetnikov RI, Yakubovskaya RI, Plotnikova EA, Morozova NB, et al. Novel bacteriochlorophyll-based photosensitizers and their photodynamic activity. J Porphyr Phthalocyanines. 2014; 18: 129–38.
Venanzi F, Shifrin V, Sherman M, GabaiV, Kiselev O, Komissarov A, Grudinin M, Shartukova M, Romanovskaya-Romanko EA, Kudryavets Y, Bezdenezhnykh N, Lykhova O, Semesyuk N, Concetti A, Tsyb A, Filimonova M, Makarchuk V, Yakubovskаyа R, et al. Broad-spectrum anti-tumor and anti-metastatic DNA vaccine based on p62-encoding vector. Oncotarget. 2013 Oct; 4 (10): 1829–35.
Yakubovskaya RI, Morozova NB, Pankratov AA, Kazachkina NI, Plyutinskaya AD, Karmakova TA, etal. Experimental photodynamic therapy: 15 years of development. Russ J Gen Chem. 2015; 85 (1): 217–
Yakubovskaya RI, Kazachkina NI, Karmakova TA, Morozova NB, Pankratov AA, Plyutinskaya AD, et al. Metodicheskie rekomendatsii po izucheniyu fotoindutsirovannykh protivoopukholevykh svoistv lekarstvennykh sredstv. In: Rukovodstvo po provedeniyu doklinicheskikh issledovanii lekarstvennykh sredstv. Part Moscow: Grif i K; 2012. p. 655–69. Russian.
Grin MA, Lonin IS, Likhosherstov LM, Novikova OS, Plyutinskaya AD, Plotnikova EA, Kachala VV, Yakubovskaya RI, et al. “Click chemistry” in the synthesis of the first glycoconjugates of bacteriochlorin series. J Porphyr Phthalocyanines. 2012 Oct; 16: 1094–109.