In the wake of the departed

Evgeny Krasavin 20.04.1942 - 17.07.2025

On 17 July, the Scientific Leader and organizer of the Laboratory of Radiation Biology of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences Professor Evgeny A.Krasavin passed away.

The beginning of the bright and productive scientific activity of Evgeny Krasavin was laid in 1968 in graduate school at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Ministry of Health of the USSR and in the defense of a Ph.D. thesis in 1971 with a degree in Radiobiology. In 1980, he was invited to work at JINR to organize research on the radiobiology of heavy charged particles. In 1985, he defended his thesis for the degree of Doctor of Biological Sciences and in 1989, he was awarded the title of Professor.

In 1986, E.A.Krasavin headed the Sector of Biological Research at the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems and in 1988, on his initiative, the Department of Biophysics was established. In 1995, Evgeny Krasavin headed the Department of Radiation and Radiobiological Research of JINR.

In 2005, at the initiative of E.A.Krasavin and with the support of JINR Directorate, a new, the seventh laboratory of the Joint Institute, the Laboratory of Radiation Biology was established on the basis of the Department of Radiation and Radiobiological Research.

Thanks to the scientific achievements and organizational talent of E.A.Krasavin, a new scientific area in radiobiology was developed and isolated - the radiobiology of heavy charged particles that is of great theoretical and practical importance in the field of radiation therapy and space radiobiology.

Research carried out under his supervision at the basic facilities of the Institute allowed to meet one of the key issues of radiobiology - the problem of the relative biological efficiency of radiation of different qualities that, as it was shown, is estimated not only by the physical characteristics of the radiation, but also by the biological factor - the ability of the cell to repair DNA damage. Based on the developed ideas, the mechanisms of radiation-induced mutagenesis in prokaryotic and lower eukaryotic cells under the influence of heavy charged particles were studied in detail.

For many years, Evgeny Krasavin purposefully considered various fundamental aspects of space radiobiology. He put forward and experimentally substantiated a new concept of radiation risk during manned flights into deep space, where it is paramount to take into account the possible development of cognitive disorders when exposed to heavy nuclei of galactic cosmic radiation that affect the operator activities of crews directly during the flight.

In the last decade, Professor Krasavin organized a new area at JINR - astrobiology and proposed a programme for studying the development of prebiotic compounds when cosmic types of radiation (protons and multi-charge ions) effect on formamide in the occurrence of catalysts obtained from meteorites of various classes.

A significant number of investigations by Evgeny Krasavin was carried out on the modifying impact of factors of various nature - oxygen, chemical radioprotectants, radio sensitizers. At the suggestion of Krasavin, a fundamentally new approach was developed and patented to increase the biological efficiency of medical proton beams using an official drug (arabinosidcytosine) before irradiation. The technique allows to bring the biological efficiency of proton irradiation closer to the efficiency of irradiation with carbon ions. The efficiency of the new approach was confirmed in experiments on various tumor cell cultures and in animals with grafted melanoma.

The scientific merits of Evgeny Krasavin recognized in the country and abroad were evaluated in 2011 by his election as a Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Department of Physiology and Fundamental Medicine with a degree in Medical Radiobiology. For many years, Evgeny Krasavin headed the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences for Radiobiology, was a member of section No.1 of Roscosmos and a member of the editorial boards of a number of scientific journals. He published about 340 scientific papers and 5 monographs, under his supervision, 3 doctoral and 14 master's theses were defended, the results of the research implemented were more than once awarded JINR prizes.

E.A.Krasavin dedicated a lot of effort to the training of young personnel in the field of radiobiology and radiation protection. In 1998, Krasavin organized the Department of Biophysics at Dubna State University that he had successfully headed since its establishment. He was awarded the title of Honored Professor of the University.

The activities of Evgeny Krasavin have been more than once awarded by state and departmental awards of Russia and other countries. In 1996 and 2019, he was awarded state awards - Medals of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", II and I degrees. In 1997, he was awarded the Medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow". In 2001, he was awarded the title "Honorary Worker of Science and Technology of the Moscow Region". In 2006, he was awarded the Badge "Honorary Worker of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation", the Medal of the Republic of Poland "50 years of Poland's participation in JINR". In 2010, the scientist was awarded the title "Veteran of Nuclear Energy and Industry". In 2011, he was awarded the Yury Gagarin Medal of the Russian Federation of Cosmonautics, a Certificate of Honor from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. In 2013, he was awarded the highest award of the Academy of Sciences of Mongolia - the Kublai Khan Gold Medal, in 2016, he was awarded the Order of Altan Gadas (Polar Star) by decree of the President of Mongolia. In 2018, he was elected an Honorary Doctor of the State University of Mongolia. In 2016, E.A.Krasavin was given gratitude by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and in 2020, he was awarded a Certificate of Honor from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. In 2021, Evgeny Krasavin was awarded the title "Honorary Employee of JINR".

An outstanding scientist, a talented leader, an excellent educator of scientific youth, a man of extremely pure and high spirit, our dear colleague and mentor passed away.

The staff of the Laboratory of Radiation Biology deeply mourns the death of DLNP founder and Scientific Leader, expresses sincere condolences to his family and friends.