Professor Petr D. Shabanov: a celebrated leader in St. Petersburg pharmacology (on his 70th anniversary)

Professor Petr D. Shabanov, Doctor of Sciences in Medicine (born June 30, 1955), is a prominent figure in both Russian and international pharmacology and physiology. As a famous scientist and expert in neuropharmacology of synaptotropic, peptide, and metabolic pharmaceuticals, he has extensively investigated the mechanisms underlying memory, behavior, emotional states, and various forms of addiction. Dr. Shabanov has achieved international recognition for his contributions, as evidenced by his extensive publication portfolio, which includes over 1500 scientific articles, 60 monographs, 60 textbooks, and more than 50 granted patents. He is a founder and permanent editor-in-chief of Reviews of Clinical Pharmacology and Drug Therapy (since 2003) and Psychopharmacology and Biological Narcology (since 2000). He is an active member of the editorial boards of more than 10 scientific journals. Dr. Shabanov has successfully supervised 36 habilitational and 65 PhD theses, and 22 of his graduates have become professors and heads of profile departments and research laboratories. His scientific career began in 1978 at the Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Medicine of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences in Leningrad, where he worked under the supervision of academician Sergey V. Anichkov, a famous Soviet pharmacologist and member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. In 1982, Petr D. Shabanov successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis in medical sciences, and subsequently earned his doctoral degree in 1992. From 2000 to 2022, he occupied the role of Head of the Department of Pharmacology at the S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg. In 2011, he was elected as Head of the S.V. Anichkov Department of Neuropharmacology at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in St. Petersburg. Dr. Shabanov’s primary research areas focus on physiological and pharmacological aspects of memory, emotions, reinforcement, psychoneuroendocrinology, and problems of drug and non-drug addiction. He has developed 9 approved medications, including antihypoxants, neuroprotectors, nootropics, and anti-alcohol drugs. He contributed to the development of 23 biologically active food additives with ascorbic and succinic acids, which are currently manufactured in Russia.