The history of the Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Experimental Medicine (to the 100th anniversary of the department)

Abstract

The Department of Pharmacology of the Institute of Experimental Medicine was established in the autumn of 1923 on the initiative of the institutes leadership. Professor Nikolai Pavlovich Kravkov (18651924), the most respected domestic pharmacologist at that time and the head of the Department of Pharmacology of the Military Medical Academy, was invited as the alleged head of the department. However, N.P. Kravkovs untimely death in April 1924 precluded the department from developing extensive research in Pharmacology. Professor Vladimir Vasilyevich Savich (18741936), a student of I.P. Pavlov who focused his main research on the effect of medicinal substances on the nervous regulation of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine system, and water metabolism, led the department from 1924 to 1936. The mechanism of the direct impact of drugs and poisons on organs and tissues was studied using both isolated organs, notably endocrine glands, and classical conditioned reflex techniques. In 1936, the department was disbanded in connection with the death of the head (V.V. Savich) and the reorganization of the institutes structure. Professor S.V. Anichkov (18921981), who later became the Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR, and academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, revived the department in 1948 and remained its permanent head until his death (in July 1981). Along with him were well-known researchers Professors V.M. Karasik, N.V. Khromov-Borisov, I.S. Zavodskaya (who led the department from 1981 to 1984), Y.S. Borodkin (who led the department from 1984 to 1992), N.A. Kharauzov, V.E. Ryzhenkov, N.S. Sapronov (who led the department from 1992 to 2011), P.P. Denisenko, and N.A. Losev. The main focus of the department from 1948 to 1984 was the integration of fundamental pharmacological advancements with the introduction of drugs into healthcare practice. Currently, the Department of Neuropharmacology. S.V. Anichkova is one of the largest research centers in Russia, focusing on fundamental research in Pharmacology. Professor P.D. Shabanov has been the head of the department since 2011. The department divided into four laboratories: the Laboratory of Chemistry and Pharmacology of Medicinal Products (led by Doctor of Medical Sciences, E.R. Bychkov), the Laboratory of General Pharmacology (led by Doctor of Biological Sciences, Prof. A.A. Lebedev), the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology (led by Doctor of Medical Sciences, Prof. P.D. Shabanov), and the Laboratory of Synthesis and Nanotechnology of Medicinal Substances (led by Doctor of Biological Sciences, Prof. L.B. Piotrovsky).