Zavoisky International Award given away at KFU
This year’s winners are Anatolii Vanin (Head of the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Biopolymers, Semyonov Federal Research Center for Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences) and Robert Griffin (Director of the Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
The scientists were honored for their outstanding contribution to the development of electron paramagnetic resonance methodology and its application in biochemistry and studies of living organisms.
Director of the Kazan Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, opening the event, reminded that this year three anniversaries are celebrated: the 80th anniversary of the discovery of electron paramagnetic resonance by Yevgenii Zavoiskii, the 220th anniversary of Kazan University, and the 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“Today is a very important event in the scientific and cultural life of our republic,” emphasized First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Tatarstan Andrei Pominov, congratulating the laureates. “For the 33rd time the prize, named after our outstanding fellow countryman Zavoiskii, in the study and application of electron paramagnetic resonance, which was discovered in 1944, is awarded. Over the years, the Prize has won recognition in the scientific world, and among its laureates have been a large number of outstanding scientists, including eight representatives of the Russian Federation, two of them are our countrymen Kamil Valeev and Kev Salikhov, the latter of whom is present here today.”
Academician, Chairman of the Zavoiskii Prize Award Committee Kev Salikhov informed the audience about the contribution of the laureates to science, and President of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences Rifkat Minnikhanov called the ceremony an event of global scale.
First Vice-Rector Dmitrii Tayurskii in his speech emphasized the international character of science and noted that the EPR method proved to be surprisingly longstanding.
“Whenever a new field of research in physics arises, magnetic resonance always provides unique information that cannot be obtained by other methods. It gives us new methods, new knowledge to develop it,” said the Vice-Rector.
Аnatolii Vanin said in an interview with journalists that for him this prize is a great pleasure and great happiness.
Vanin’s research was the basis for the discovery of iron dinitrosyl complexes with thiol-containing ligands in living systems, which was the first proof in the world scientific literature that nitric oxide (NO), which is part of these complexes, occurs in living organisms during metabolic processes. Subsequent studies of the role of NO in living organisms, joined by many scientists in different countries, led to the formation of the idea of nitric oxide as one of the universal regulators of various biological processes in representatives of the living world – animals and humans, plants and microorganisms.
Anatolii Vanin admitted that he has been engaged in the study of dinitrosyl complexes for 60 years, starting as a student. He developed an effective technique for quantitative determination of nitric oxide in biological tissues by EPR method. This followed the creation and application of a selective NO spin trap consisting of several components. The development turned out to be very relevant, since the precision estimation of both the steady-state concentration of NO and its generation rate in biological systems is a complex but vital task.
According to Anatolii Vanin, nitric oxide regulates many biological processes in virtually all representatives of the living world.
“With a drug that releases nitric oxide, various diseases can be treated,” he emphasized in a conversation with representatives of the media.
In humans, nitric oxide regulates almost all bioprocesses, from thinking to digestion, the scientist shared.
“With the help of a drug that replenishes nitric oxide, you can relieve hypertensive crisis, treat wounds. Such a drug is able to treat endometriosis. It is already working on animals,” Anatolii Vanin added.
Robert G. Griffin, who attended the ceremony online, made many discoveries in magnetic resonance, which allowed to find new important applications in solid state physics and chemistry. Griffin’s group is now developing new magnetic resonance techniques to study molecular structure and dynamics in solids.
The Zavoiskii International Prize was established in 1991. It is awarded with the support of the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Zavoiskii Kazan Physical-Technical Institute, Kazan Federal University, and Springer Vienna New York. The laureate receives a diploma, a medal and 5,000 euros (3,500 euros from the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and 1,500 euros from the publishing house). The laureate’s lecture on their work is published in the journal Applied Magnetic Resonance.