About The Biomedical Center

The Biomedical Center is a private non-profit organization. Such organizational forms have appeared only recently, in an era of changes. Previously it was even difficult to imagine that an independent scientific institution could exist at all. During a time when severe social and economic crisis was affecting all aspects of life in Russia, and science especially, The Biomedical Center’s activity was founded on one of the most important advantages of current times, that is, creative freedom. This has helped us not only to survive the hard times of crisis in mid 1990-is and default of 1998 but also to be successful in several scientific areas related to AIDS, cancer and public health.

The Biomedical Center staff members participated in the discovery of the first cases of HIV-infection in the USSR (1987), isolating the first Russian HIV isolates and creating an HIV-infection surveillance system. In 1991–1996 The Biomedical Center implemented the first Russian program for quality control over HIV laboratory diagnostics involving several hundred laboratories from all over the country. The Biomedical Center studied and described molecular epidemiology of HIV in Russia, cloned the whole genomes of the Russian HIV isolates and determined their complete nucleotide sequences. The Biomedical Center developed the first Russian subtype-specific candidate HIV vaccines which currently are ready to undergo clinical trials.

The Biomedical Center researchers obtained data confirming the concept of a possible evolutionary role of tumors postulated by the Center Director, Dr. A.P. Kozlov more than 20 years ago.

The Biomedical Center was conceived as organization whose work focused on the meeting point of modern biology and medicine, and for several years it fully conformed to such an objective. However, recently The Biomedical Center’s activities have expanded in the most radical manner, embracing social and behavioral aspects of AIDS, other infectious diseases and drug abuse. Thus, The Biomedical Center participates in solving the most important public health problems in Russia.

The Biomedical Center’s activities operate along new, actively developing scientific streamline at the meeting point of biology, medicine, social and behavioral sciences. The Biomedical Center conducts such activities in cooperation with several departments of the St.Petersburg State University and several international universities. The Biomedical Center was one of the initiators and is currently preparing the Master of Public Health program at St.Petersburg University.

The breakthrough into this new area of activity corresponded with the founding of annual international conference in St.Petersburg. The Biomedical Center has hosted this conference entitled «AIDS, Cancer and Public Health» every year since early 90-ies.

The 1990’s were a period of active development of parliamentarism in Russia. During these years The Biomedical Center three times collaborated extensively with the young Russian parliament, the State Duma. First, in 1994–95, The Biomedical Center along with Association against HIV/AIDS participated in the development of the draft law «On Prevention of Spread in the Russian Federation of the Disease Caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)». This law, adopted in 1995 secured the preservation of the Russian HIV surveillance system. Secondly, in 1996–97, The Biomedical Center in cooperation with several other organizations prepared and successfully lobbied in the Federal program «Vaccines of New Generation and Diagnostic Systems of the Future». Within this framework, a Russian HIV vaccine project is being developed. The Biomedical Center is supported by top level programs in Russia and abroad, as indicated by the range of prestigious national and international projects in which The Biomedical Center takes part. In 1998, The Biomedical Center suggested the concept of active preventive intervention for parliamentary hearings on AIDS. On June 8, 1998 this concept was recommended by parliamentary hearings as a basis of national policy for fighting HIV/AIDS.