In his remarks about the Skoltech scientist’s work, Vladimir Putin noted: “Artem Isaev is addressing one of the most pressing challenges in modern medicine — combating antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. To this end, he is studying viruses that serve as natural enemies of pathogenic bacteria, capable of destroying or suppressing them. This is not merely an alternative approach, but a fundamentally new one. It is encouraging that Russia is one of the leaders in this field. Work is being carried out globally in this direction, and I repeat, it is gratifying that we are not just keeping pace, but are also among the leaders. However, the next step is crucial — learning to develop broad-spectrum drugs based on the scientific foundation we are building. Artem’s work is bringing us closer to that moment.”
After receiving the award from the President, Artem Isaev addressed the audience, acknowledging his team’s contribution and expressing gratitude to his academic advisor:
“It is a tremendous honor for me to receive this prize. I am very pleased that the research conducted by our Laboratory for Metagenome Analysis has been recognized at such a high level. It is important to emphasize that this is not solely my achievement, but the result of the work of a great team: researchers, students, and doctoral candidates — some of whom are here today. I would like to highlight the contributions of Svetlana Belukhina, Alyona Drobyazko, Oksana Kotovskaya, and Mikhail Skutel. I also wish to thank Skoltech and its President Alexander Kuleshov. As a graduate of Skoltech myself, I have progressed from a master’s student to a laboratory head, and Alexander Petrovich provides us with invaluable support. A special acknowledgement goes to Konstantin Severinov. He has been my teacher and mentor in science, the one who inspired me to pursue research in bacterial immune systems.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that addressing a global challenge as significant as overcoming the crisis of antibiotic resistance in bacterial infections requires a deep understanding of the biology of both bacteria and the viruses that infect them — bacteriophages — and it demands fundamental research. Therefore, I sincerely hope that young scientists in Russia will continue to have, and will gain ever more opportunities to carry out both applied and fundamental work in this vital scientific field.”
