Teregulov Prize in Medicine and Healthcare awarded to KFU team
Results of the competition were announced at the General Assembly of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan on 18th December. The award was presented to a team from Kazan Federal University for a series of research papers entitled Gene and Cell Technologies for Neuroregeneration in Medicine.
The event was attended by Asgat Safarov, Head of the Office of the Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan; Albert Gilmutdinov, Assistant to the Rais of Tatarstan; Leila Fazleeva, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan; Rifkat Minnikhanov, President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan; and leading scientists. KFU was represented by Marat Safiullin, Vice-Rector for Economic and Strategic Development, and Danis Nurgaliev, Vice-Rector for Earth Sciences.
The 2025 laureates of the Teregulov Prize were members of the Laboratory of Gene and Cell Technologies: Albert Rizvanov, Head of the Laboratory, Professor in the Department of Genetics, and Academic Secretary of the Academy’s Division of Medical and Biological Sciences; Yana Mukhamedshina, Chief Researcher at the laboratory and Professor of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan; and Valeria Solovyova, Chief Researcher and Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics.
The award-winning body of work focuses on developing and validating translational platforms for gene, cell, and microvesicle-based therapies aimed at treating neurotrauma and rare neurodegenerative diseases.
“We have progressed from molecular constructs and biomarkers to preclinical animal studies, demonstrating the safety and feasibility of these approaches for clinical use. An important outcome has been the creation of an integrated system—from diagnostics and disease modeling to patent-protected therapeutic solutions based on viral vectors, genetically modified mesenchymal stem cells, and their extracellular vesicles,” Rizvanov commented on the prize being awarded to Kazan University researchers.
The professor also spoke about the future directions of the research, “They are linked to a transition toward personalized biotechnological medicinal products and biomedical cell-based products. We are working to begin implementing new high-tech treatment methods in clinical practice in the near future, including at our University Clinic.”
It should be noted that the competition accepted scientific works (including series of works united by a single theme), discoveries, and inventions that contribute to the development of scientific knowledge and are distinguished by originality in the formulation and solution of research tasks. The monetary prize amounts to 500,000 rubles.
During the assembly, other representatives of the university also received honors. Among them was Vice-Rector Marat Safiullin, who was presented with the Gold Medal of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan for Achievements in Science, as well as Radif Zamaletdinov, Director of KFU’s Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication, and others.
Abubekir Teregulov (1885–1966) was an internist, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, and an outstanding scientist. He worked for more than three decades at the Shamov Hospital (in 1919, the hospital was renamed after him). In 1911 he graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Kazan University, and the following year took part in famine relief efforts in Ufa Governorate. He worked at the Department of Therapy at Kazan University, and also in Irkutsk and Tomsk. From 1929, Teregulov headed the Department of Propedeutics of Internal Diseases at Kazan State Medical University (1929–1944) and later the Department of Hospital Therapy No. 1 (1944–1963). His works focused on the role of the medulla oblongata in regulating Cheyne–Stokes respiration and on pathological interoception in diseases of the digestive system. Teregulov developed an original classification of respiratory failure in obstructive and restrictive lung diseases.