Andrei RUDSKOI spoke at the plenary session of the 18th St. Petersburg International Innovation Forum (PIIF-2020)
On November 18-20, 2020, the 18th St. Petersburg International Innovation Forum is taking place in the ExpoForum exhibition and congress center. One of the key events of the forum was the plenary session, during which the heads of federal and regional authorities, state corporations, institutions and organizations, experts in the field of production, innovation, medicine, science and education discussed the key points of support and development of industry and healthcare. Andrei RUDSKOI, Rector of SPbPU, Academician of the RAS, made a report on the role of engineering education in the development of industry and advanced technologies for public health.
In 2020, PIIF pays special attention to such topical issues as the role of industry in healthcare, technological breakthrough in the constraints of the pandemic, digitalization of the economy, telemedicine, crisis readiness of enterprises, working with the team in crisis, etc.
Alexander BEGLOV, the Governor of St. Petersburg, made a welcoming speech. He spoke about the main goal of St. Petersburg in the pandemic - to increase the capacity to fight against various kinds of infections: “This year, the theme of the forum was healthcare industry. We are waiting for new solutions from our manufacturers in the fight against infectious diseases. It is important for us to promote innovations in medical equipment, medicine and vaccine production.” The head of St. Petersburg stressed that about 70 pharmaceutical companies work in the city. They produce about 300 medicines, 180 of them are vital medicines. Volumes of industrial production in St. Petersburg annually increase by 10-15 %, and the production created by city experts, is delivered to 102 countries.
The St. Petersburg International Innovation Forum is a platform for promoting scientific and production potential. Rector of SPbPU Andrei RUDSKOI told about the role of Polytechnic University in supporting industry, interaction with medical centers (the Translational Medicine Scientific and Educational Cluster) during the pandemic, technologies that the university was able to offer and which were most in demand from industry, including medical, about the achievements of the University over the past six months and the immediate plans.
During the pandemic, Polytechnic University was immediately engaged in countering the virus. The mathematical model of developments during the pandemic, developed by SPbPU a scientific group under the leadership of Professor Alexey Borovkov, helped not only to understand what was happening, but also to forecast the situation and make decisions to reduce isolation at the state level. And in the summer the University received the status of a world-class scientific center. Now the university is engaged in developing a universal cancer vaccine, as well as vaccines against infectious diseases and Alzheimer’s disease progressing. Andrei RUDSKOI also said that Polytechnic University and V.A. Almazov R&DC make a joint road map to develop digital platforms for the creation of antiviral vaccines. “Now we are developing a road map in the areas where it is possible to combine our efforts. This is a joint activity and scientific research in the field of digital platforms for the development of vaccines against viruses, on disease bio-modeling and a number of other promising areas, including the introduction of such technology as smart clinics,” said the SPbPU rector and noted that this work is carried out in the framework of cooperation of world-class scientific centers (WCSCs), which have recently been established within the frame of the Science National Project.
Prepared by the Public Relations Office