In memory of Margarita Malakyan, a bright person and inquisitive scientist

Abstract

Purpose

To describe the contribution of Margarita Malakyan to the development of radiation biology in Armenia and how her multidisciplinary collaboration with chemists, physicists and biologists around the world led to the development of radioprotectors and radiosensitizers of different origins.

Conclusion

Margarita Malakyan was a very active and initiative woman, a radiobiologist, whose hard work and enthusiasm led to the establishment of a very constructive scientific network and to the development of newly synthesized metal compounds. During her short but very productive life, the synthesis, characterization, as well as toxicity and radioprotective studies of different compounds led to the suggestion of a number of metal complexes of Schiff bases as effective radioprotective agents and radiosensitizers.

Keywords:

• Margarita Malakyan
• woman radiobiologist
• radioprotectors
• metal complexes
• animal models

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

We would like to sincerely thank the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, as well as the State Committee of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia for their continuous support in the frames of 16GE-040, 19YR-1F045 and 20TTCG-1F003 research projects.

Notes on contributors

Mariam Petrosyan

Mariam Petrosyan, PhD, is a young scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Republic of Armenia (Yerevan, Armenia). Her research is focused on the finding and study of more effective radioprotective agents for the mitigation of the radiation damage.

Elina Arakelova

Elina Arakelova, PhD, is a scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Republic of Armenia (Yerevan, Armenia). Her research is focused on the study of the effects of different forms of ionizing radiation on the immune system of the organism.

Lyudmila Nersesova

Lyudmila Nersesova, PhD, is a leading scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Republic of Armenia (Yerevan, Armenia). Her research is focused on the study of the effect of the harmful effect of ionizing radiation on the key enzymes of cell metabolism.

Violetta Ayvazyan

Violetta Ayvazyan, PhD, is a leading scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Republic of Armenia (Yerevan, Armenia). Her research is focused on the study of the effect of the deleterious effect of ionizing radiation on the oxidant-antioxidant balance of the organism.

Gohar Tsakanova

Gohar Tsakanova, PhD, is the deputy director, head of laboratory and a senior scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Republic of Armenia (Yerevan, Armenia), as well as head of laboratory and senior scientist at the CANDLE Synchrotron Research Institute (Yerevan, Armenia). Her research is focused on the finding and study of different radioprotectors and radioenhancers, as well as on the study of the biomedical effects of ultrashort pulsed electron beam irradiation.