CRI Scientist Receives Russian Federation National Award

Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the State Prize of the Russian Federation to scientists, artists, and scholars, marking the highlight of the Day of Russia, a national holiday celebrating Russia’s independence. Among them was Sergei Nedospasov, Ph.D., D.Sc., who was honored for his contributions to the molecular mediators of immunity, including work on the creation of unique mouse models to study them.

Nedospasov was a CRI investigator award recipient 25 years ago, where he performed research on tumor necrosis factor—a protein that was originally discovered by Lloyd J. Old, M.D., CRI’s scientific and medical director until his death in 2011 from prostate cancer. Tumor necrosis factor, or TNF, is a key signaling molecule that, in its discoverers words, caused tumors to turn black and die, or necrose. TNF, in fact, was actually involved in autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis. TNF inhibitors, like Remicade or Humira, are used to treat these and other autoimmune disorders.

“The 1991 CRI investigator award was my first scientific award for exactly the type of study—molecular genetics of TNF—that, 25 years later, led to the Russian Federation State Prize in Science and Technology,” says Sergei Nedospasov, Ph.D., D.Sc., who is the professor and head of the laboratory of molecular mechanism of immunity at Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, and professor and head of the department of immunology at the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.

The annual awards—presented during a ceremony at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow—consist of a cash prize of 5 million rubles ($76,500), a medal, and a diploma.

Congratulations Sergei!

Photo: Sergei Nedospasov, Ph.D., D.Sc., is fifth from the left. Landscape photo by A. L. on Unsplash.