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The 2022 Russian Federation National Award for outstanding achievements in science and technology has been awarded to Mikhail Skorokhvatov and Vladimir Kopeikin for the series of fundamental and applied scientific works that have made an outstanding contribution to the development of domestic research on reactor antineutrinos and created a scientific and technical basis for their practical application in the nuclear industry.

Mikhail Skorokhvatov was born on June 11, 1950, in Kolomna, Moscow Region. DSc in Physics and Mathematics, he heads the Neutrino Physics Department at the Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre.

Vladimir Kopeikin was born on July 9, 1946, in the village of Pavlovka, Astrakhan Region. DSc in Physics and Mathematics, he is a leading research fellow at the Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre.

The team completed a years-long cycle of research that resulted in the creation and development of critical domestic and global areas of fundamental neutrino studies and their global-first practical applications. A concept has been developed for remote measurement of power, energy generation and isotopic composition in the core of a nuclear reactor by means of recording reactor antineutrinos. For the first time in the world, experiments were carried out at nuclear power plants showing the possibility of introducing a new technology to make development of nuclear energy even safer.

Mikhail Skorokhvatov developed highly sensitive detectors for recording reactor antineutrinos and for a number of applied tasks. Studies of the properties, interaction and oscillations of antineutrinos, conducted at the Rovno NPP (USSR) and together with foreign researchers at the nuclear power plants in Bugey (France) and Chooz (France) have enriched fundamental scientific knowledge and created a scientific basis for practical applications. Up until today, these experiments have been considered the world’s best achievements.

Vladimir Kopeikin performed pioneering studies of the cumulative spectra of antineutrinos and beta particles of fission fragments of uranium and plutonium isotopes, which became the basis for modern research on reactor antineutrinos. At the Rovno NPP, high-precision measurements of the evolution of the spectrum of reactor antineutrinos were carried out, using scintillation spectrometers, and, for the first time, the practical possibility of monitoring a nuclear reactor, in particular, determining the accumulation of plutonium in the core, was demonstrated.

The neutrino method for monitoring nuclear reactors has been widely recognised by the IAEA and the world’s leading nuclear centres. The scientists’ research made it possible to form a new scientific discipline: the applied physics of reactor antineutrinos, aimed at ensuring safety of nuclear power plants and the use of the non-proliferation guarantees.

The 2022 Russian Federation National Award in Science and Technology has been given to Dmitry Pushkar, Igor Khatkov and Alexei Shabunin for scientific substantiating a new concept for minimally invasive surgical treatment of peritoneal and retroperitoneal organ cancers and introducing it into clinical practice.

Dmitry Pushkar was born on July 19, 1963, in Moscow. Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Urology Department at Yevdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry of the Russian Federation Healthcare Ministry.

Igor Khatkov was born on April 6, 1967, in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR. Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Moscow Loginov Clinical Scientific and Practical Centre of the Moscow Healthcare Department.

Alexei Shabunin was born on March 13, 1961, in Kemerovo. Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chief Physician at the Botkin City Clinical Hospital of the Moscow City Healthcare Department.

The team’s research resulted in a breakthrough achievement in the scientific substantiation of complex treatment of patients with tumour lesions in peritoneal and retroperitoneal organs, including minimally invasive surgical and robotic technology, and introducing this method into clinical practice. Thanks to the team’s efforts, Russia joined the countries where laparoscopic radical surgeries for pancreatic cancer are now performed.

Dmitry Pushkar was the first to perform robot-assisted surgeries in patients with prostate cancer, while at the same time specifically studying anatomical characteristics of the prostate gland and the morphological characteristics of tumours, which later made it possible to systemise the approach to prostate cancer treatment. To date, he has the greatest experience in robot-assisted surgeries. His group has trained hundreds of Russian surgeons now using robotic equipment, which made it possible to collect and systemise the results of treating urologic cancers.

Igor Khatkov is one of the founders of laparoscopic cancer surgery in Russia. He was the first in Russia to perform laparoscopic pancreatoduodenectomy for pancreatic cancer. He developed a number of innovative solutions that helped introduce minimally traumatic surgeries for various types of oncological abdominal diseases into practical work. The school of surgical oncologists he created is known all over the world and is among the leaders.

Alexei Shabunin is one of the leading abdominal surgeons in Russia and in the world. One of his significant achievements was the scientific substantiation of minimally invasive surgical methods for treating cancers of the liver, bile duct and pancreas and introducing them into clinical practice. He carried out fundamental studies of the functional state of the liver and developed technology to prevent liver failure after extensive liver resections, which made it possible to improve the results of radical surgical treatment.

The 2022 Russian Federation National Award for outstanding achievements in science and technology has been given to Gennady Sukhikh, Levon Ashrafyan and Dmitry Trofimov for a series of fundamental and applied works on the development of personalised methods of diagnostics, prevention and therapy and the implementation of perinatology, oncology and reproductive medicine.

Gennady Sukhikh was born on May 4, 1947, in Orenburg. Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Acting Director of the National Medical Research Centre for Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Perinatology named after Academician Kulakov of the Russian Federation Healthcare Ministry.

Levon Ashrafyan was born on June 12, 1952, in Batumi, Adzharia ASSR. Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of Gynaecological Oncology and Mammology at the National Medical Research Centre for Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Perinatology named after Academician Kulakov of the Russian Federation Healthcare Ministry.

Dmitry Trofimov was born on April 28, 1970, in the village of Protvino, Moscow Region. Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of Reproductive Genetics at the National Medical Research Centre for Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Perinatology named after Academician Kulakov of the Russian Federation Healthcare Ministry.

The team used fundamental and applied research to develop methods to diagnose and treat human pathology in reproductive medicine, obstetrics, neonatology and oncology. The innovations and original solutions created are important for solving problems in the field of innovative technology for diagnosing and treating the most significant diseases in human reproduction, perinatology and oncology.

Gennady Sukhikh developed and implemented a concept of modern interdisciplinary scientific research in perinatal medicine and human reproduction. Gennady Sukhikh is the founder of fundamental and applied research in the biology of human stem and progenitor cells. Under his leadership, complex programmes of scientific research in obstetrics, gynaecology and neonatology were carried out, and modern methods for early diagnosis and treatment of complications in pregnancy and diseases of the reproductive system in women and men were created and implemented based on molecular and cellular biology data.

Dmitry Trofimov made a great contribution to the development and implementation of an integrated approach to the use of modern methods of molecular genetics for diagnosing a wide range of maternal and child pathologies at all stages from preparation for pregnancy to birth, including an analysis of infectious factors, the reaction of the human body, and diagnostics of genetic diseases.

Levon Ashrafyan is a specialist in gynaecologic oncology and mammology. Under his leadership, research has been launched on the oncological aspects of postmenopause and molecular biological factors of carcinogenesis. He was the first in Russia to introduce into clinical practice medicines with an epigenetic mechanism of action (multiple multitarget blockade of the main signalling pathways of carcinogenesis) to prevent and treat cancer of the reproductive organs (breast cancer, cervical cancer).