On 4 April 2024, the administration of the Fund for the Promotion of Innovations presented the lists of projects for financing under the UMNIK programme taking into account the recommendations of the Fund’s competition commission. All winners of the UMNIK 2023 competition will receive grants from the Fund for the Promotion of Innovations in the amount of 500 thousand roubles to conduct research in the field of their project. The financing period is 12 months.
Among the winners of the competition are three representatives of Voronezh State University. Evgeniy Komarov, a fourth year student from the Faculty of Computer Sciences, was the winner. His project “Development of an information system for preclinical drug research with machine learning” was prepared under the guidance of Professor Yaroslav Turovsky, DSc in Technical Sciences and head of the laboratory of medical cybernetics.
This is the 11th and 12th victory at the UMNIK competition in the IT field for young scientists who graduated from the laboratory of medical cybernetics of the Faculty of Computer Sciences. This year, both of the two projects supported in this area in the Voronezh Region were developed in this department of the Faculty of Computer Science.
According to Evgeniy Komarov, the goal of his project was to optimise the system of preclinical research of substances with therapeutic potential and create conditions for more accurate research.
“Preclinical trials are needed for drug research. At this stage, the effect of the drug on rats is being observed. Such experiments are usually conducted manually: a laboratory assistant observes the rat and its actions. Very little automation is used in this process. My project aims to make it automated. The system I developed optimises the research process while also making it more accurate: the device can draw the full trajectory of the rat’s movement, thus eliminating the human factor. Among the future prospects are not only the trajectory of the rat’s movement, but a full range of experiments. Then the device will be able to completely replace humans and significantly increase the speed of testing potential drugs,” said Evgeniy.
Artyom Makeev, a fourth year student from the Faculty of Computer Sciences, won the UMNIK competition with the project “Development of automated biofeedback information systems for solving issues of robotic systems control”. Artyom’s scientific supervisor is also Yaroslav Turovsky.
“While working on the project, various neuro, oculo, and myo-interfaces were tested, after which a test sample was created and tested. We are still working on it in order to improve its functionality and expand its capabilities. I believe the development of this device is really important for society and will have significant potential in the future,” said Artyom.
According to Makeev, if properly developed, the project could become a new step towards the development of modern technologies and rehabilitation methods. It will allow creating more advanced solutions to improve people’s life quality. The development of the device will be really helpful for people with disabilities, and it can also be used in the field of robotic biofeedback systems and applications for them. In the future, Artyom is planning to release a finished device and make it available for anyone.
Polina Morozova, a second year master’s student from the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, also won the competition. Her project “Developing a test system for the identification of African swine fever in field conditions based on loop isothermal amplification on paper” was prepared under the guidance of Mikhail Syromyatnikov, PhD in Biology, Associate Professor of the Department of Genetics, Cytology, and Bioengineering.
“Development of a test system for the ASF virus using loop isothermal amplification on paper is a progressive project for modern farm animal production. Timely detection of ASF pathogens is the key to preserving cattle and, therefore, saving hundreds of millions of roubles. A paper base with loop isothermal amplification is a new idea in detecting the presence of pathogens, which has no analogues in Russia,” said Polina.
According to Morozova, the main advantages of the device developed by her are the speed of diagnosis, the sensitivity of the method, and the fact that no expensive equipment or qualified personnel are required for its use.
“The virus can be detected on site, which saves time and, therefore, a lot of money,” explained Polina.
