From 14 to 16 May 2024, Almazov Centre hosted a major scientific and educational event, the 7th Saint Petersburg Medical Innovation Forum. The St. Petersburg Medical Innovation Forum is one of the largest events in the near and far abroad, uniting a wide range of specialists. The Forum's primary objective is to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing among medical professionals, with a focus on advancing the field of innovative healthcare for enhanced quality of medical care and reduced morbidity and mortality, and contribute to the advancement of medical science in the country.
This year’s Forum was held as part of the Programme of the World-Class Research Centre for Personalized Medicine with support from the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
The development of new technologies has accelerated the growth of medicine in recent years. Science and technology are improving, amazing discoveries are being made and cures for previously untreatable conditions are on the rise with many more on the horizon. There have been great advances in almost all areas – from oncology to surgery, including the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines. Today, the healthcare sector is being transformed with the implementation of technological innovations such as telemedicine, robotics, big data, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality.
The annual Saint Petersburg Medical Innovation Forum continues to serve as a great venue for exchanging ideas, exploring new advancements and innovations in medicine, and fostering deeper international cooperation. This 7th edition of the Forum brought together more than 6,500 attendees, both onsite and online, representing diverse Russian regions China, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, USA, France, Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Uzbekistan.
This year's programme featured lectures, plenary sessions, scientific symposia, workshops, clinical case discussions, e-posters, training sessions for practitioners. The Forum traditionally included Almazov Youth Medical Forum 2024 comprising 30 sessions and 7 research competitions and attended by 3,416 young scientists and students.
Prior to the inauguration of the Forum, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Almazov National Medical Research Centre and the Russian-African Network University (RAFU) consortium. The objective of RAFU is to reinforce the partnership between Russian and African universities, implement joint educational programs and facilitate academic mobility.
As part of the development of bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia in the field of healthcare a memorandum of understanding between Heilongjiang Provincial Hospital and Almazov Centre was signed. The objective of this cooperation is to improve the quality of medical care provided to patients.
The opening ceremony featured welcome addresses by Mikhail Murashko, Health Minister of the Russian Federation, Alexander Beglov, Governor of St. Petersburg, Denis Sekirinsky, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education and Vladimir Bespalov, Director General of the Russian Science Foundation. Other prominent speakers at the opening ceremony were Oleg Ergashev, Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg, Mikhail Piradov, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Andrey Maksimov, Chairman of the St. Petersburg Government Committee for Science and Higher Education.
The Forum participants were also welcomed by Andrey Rudskoy, Rector of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Evgeny Kryukov, Head of Military Medical Academy, Victor Sheludko, Rector of LETI University, and Sergey Shevchenko, Director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine.
The opening ceremony also featured a welcome address by Professor Ji Yong, Rector of Harbin Medical University (China). He congratulated Evgeny Shlyakhto on the opening of such an important event for science, education and medicine. He also highlighted the enduring friendship and fruitful collaboration between Almazov Centre and Harbin Medical University. In 2024, the leading scientists and young researchers of Harbin Medical University presented their research results during the forum.
The plenary session, which marked the grand opening of the 7th Saint Petersburg Medical Innovation Forum, was continued by Evgeny Shlyakhto, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Director General of Almazov Centre. He delivered a presentation entitled «Medicine of the future – medicine of knowledge, data and technologies».
Dmitry Sychev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Rector of the Russian Medical Academy of Continuing Professional Education, presented the latest data on research in the field of immunology in his presentation “Sectoral suppression of T-cell immunity – a new strategy for the treatment of autoimmune diseases”.
The plenary session was continued by Academician Sergey Lukyanov with a presentation entitled “Pharmacogenetics: a universal approach to personalized drug use” and Professor Li Yue of Harbin University with a presentation entitled “The history of development and current issues of cardio-oncology”.
One of the key highlights of the Forum was the meeting of the RAS Council on Personalized Medicine. Leading experts from across Russia convened to discuss personnel training and new technologies of personalized medicine, as well as the advantages of this approach and potential barriers to its practical implementation
Furthermore, the 7th St. Petersburg Medical Innovation Forum featured a healthcare innovation exhibition. This showcased 15 AI-based developments of Almazov Centre, innovative technologies for cardiovascular surgery, robotic surgery, anesthesiology and cardiology, radiopharmaceuticals, oncology, gynecology and neurology. Almazov Centre presented a number of innovative projects at the event, including the Smart Clinic project, the Smart Bandage – a wearable device for chronic wound healing, new self-expanding nitinol stents for the treatment of peripheral arterial diseases, the DiaCompanion PRO mobile app for pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus, [68Ga]GaBQ7812, a new heterodimer-based radiopharmaceutical for prostate cancer diagnosis and nitric oxide therapy technology for CVD patients. Visitors had an opportunity to remotely operate the da Vinci robotic surgical system and gain insight into the layout of the robotic operating theatre. Five leading universities that are part of the Translational Medicine cluster showcased their latest developments at the exhibition stands during the Forum.
At the closing ceremony, Evgeny Shlyakhto, Director General of Almazov Centre, extended his congratulations to all Forum participants on their successful work and presented certificates and commemorative cups to the winners of competitions. He encouraged young scientists, students and schoolchildren to persevere in their studies, to strive for new victories and to seek creative inspiration.